FHE  VIZIER  OF  THE 

TWO-HORNED 

1EXANDER 


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THE  VIZIER  OF  THE 
TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 


I  LENT  LARGE  SUMS  TO  THE  NOBLE  KNIGHTS.' 


THE  VIZIER  OF  THE 
TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 


BY 

FRANK  R.  STOCKTON 

Author  of  "  The  Casting  Away  of  Mrs. 
Leeks  and  Mrs.  Aleshine,"  "  The  Squir 
rel  Inn,"  "The  Hundredth  Man,"  etc. 


ILLUSTRATED  BY 
REGINALD  B.  BIRCH 


NEW  YORK 

THE  CENTURY  CO. 

1899 


Copyright,  1898,  1899,  by 
THE  CENTURY  Co. 


THE  DE  VINNE  PRESS. 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 

I  lent  large  sums  to  the  noble  PAGE 
knights         .         .         .         Frontispiece 

"  Don't  you  do  it "  .         .         .         .  9 

His  wife  was  a  slender  lady          .  15 

"  Time  of  Abraham  !  "  I  exclaimed  2 1 

Moses  asked  embarrassing  questions  .     31 

An  encounter  with  Charles  Lamb    .  37 

I  cut  that  picture  from  its  frame  .  .     43 

When  we  left  Cordova    .         .         .  51 

I  had  been  a  broker  in  Pompeii  .  .     57 
Solomon  and  the  Jinns    .         .         .  '        63 

"Go  tell  the  queen"    .         .         .  .71 
She  gave  me  her  hand,  and  I  shook  it 

heartily   .....  79 
5 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Asking  all  sorts  of  questions         .  .     97 

And  roughly  told  me                .  .         103 

She  turned  her  head     .         .          .  -113 

"How  like!"          .         .         .  .         127 

I  proceeded  to  dig  a  hole     .         .  .   137 
"  Why  are  you  not  in  the  army?  "  .         153 

Nebuchadnezzar  and  the  gardener  .   165 

Petrarch  and  Laura          .         .  .         191 

The  crouching  African  fixed  her  eyes 

upon  him     .         .         .         .  .  231 


6 


THE  VIZIER  OF  THE 
TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 


THE  VIZIER  OF  THE 
TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

I 

WAS  on  a  French  steamer  bound 
from  Havre  to  New  York,  when 
I  had  a  peculiar  experience  in  the 
way  of  a  shipwreck.  On  a  dark 
and  foggy  night,  when  we  were  about  three 
days  out,  our  vessel  collided  with  a  derelict 
—  a  great,  heavy,  helpless  mass,  as  dull  and 
colorless  as  the  darkness  in  which  she  was 
enveloped.  We  struck  her  almost  head  on, 
and  her  stump  of  a  bowsprit  was  driven  into 
our  port  bow  with  such  tremendous  violence 
that  a  great  hole  —  nobody  knew  of  what  di 
mensions —  was  made  in  our  vessel. 

The  collision  occurred  about  two  hours 
before    daylight,    and    the    frightened    pas 
sengers  who  crowded  the  upper  deck  were 
soon  informed  by  the  officers  that  it  would 
1 


THE   VIZIER  OF  THE 

be;  rwessary  to  take  to  the  boats,  for  the 
vessel  was  rapidly  settling  by  the  head. 

Now,  of  course,  all  was  hurry  and  con 
fusion.  The  captain  endeavored  to  assure 
his  passengers  that  there  were  boats  enough 
to  carry  every  soul  on  board,  and  that  there 
was  time  enough  for  them  to  embark  quietly 
and  in  order.  But  as  the  French  people  did 
not  understand  him  when  he  spoke  in  Eng 
lish,  and  as  the  Americans  did  not  readily 
comprehend  what  he  said  in  French,  his  ex 
hortations  were  of  little  avail.  With  such 
of  their  possessions  as  they  could  carry,  the 
people  crowded  into  the  boats  as  soon  as 
they  were  ready,  and  sometimes  before  they 
were  ready ;  and  while  there  was  not  exactly 
a  panic  on  board,  each  man  seemed  to  be  in 
spired  with  the  idea  that  his  safety,  and  that 
of  his  family,  if  he  had  one,  depended  upon 
precipitate  individual  action. 

I  was  a  young  man,  traveling  alone,  and 
while  I  was  as  anxious  as  any  one  to  be 
saved  from  the  sinking  vessel,  I  was  not  a 
coward,  and  I  could  not  thrust  myself  into  a 
boat  when  there  were  women  and  children 
behind  me  who  had  not  yet  been  provided 
2 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

with  places.  There  were  men  who  did  this, 
and  several  times  I  felt  inclined  to  knock  one 
of  the  poltroons  overboard.  The  deck  was 
well  lighted,  the  steamer  was  settling  slowly, 
and  there  was  no  excuse  for  the  dastardly 
proceedings  which  were  going  on  about  me. 

It  was  not  long,  however,  before  almost 
all  of  the  passengers  were  safely  embarked, 
and  I  was  preparing  to  get  into  a  boat  which 
was  nearly  filled  with  the  officers  and  crew, 
when  I  was  touched  on  the  shoulder,  and 
turning,  I  saw  a  gentleman  whose  acquain 
tance  I  had  made  soon  after  the  steamer  had 
left  Havre.  His  name  was  Crowder.  He 
was  a  middle-aged  man,  a  New-Yorker,  in 
telligent  and  of  a  social  disposition,  and  I 
had  found  him  a  very  pleasant  companion. 
To  my  amazement,  I  perceived  that  he  was 
smoking  a  cigar. 

"  If  I  were  you,"  said  he,  "  I  would  not  go 
in  that  boat.  It  is  horribly  crowded,  and 
the  captain  and  second  officer  have  yet  to 
find  places  in  it." 

"  That 's  all  the  more  reason,"  said  I,  "  why 
we  should  hurry.  I  am  not  going  to  push 
myself  ahead  of  women  and  children,  but 
3 


THE  VIZIER  OF  THE 

I  've  just  as  much  right  to  be  saved  as  the 
captain  has,  and  if  there  are  any  vacant 
places,  let  us  get  them  as  soon  as  pos 
sible." 

Crowder  now  put  his  hand  on  my  shoul 
der  as  if  to  restrain  me.  "  Safety  !  "  said  he. 
"  You  need  n't  trouble  yourself  about  safety. 
You  are  just  as  safe  where  you  are  as  you 
could  possibly  be  in  one  of  those  boats.  If 
they  are  not  picked  up  soon, —  and  they  may 
float  about  for  days, —  their  sufferings  and 
discomforts  will  be  very  great.  There  is  a 
shameful  want  of  accommodation  in  the 
way  of  boats." 

"  But,  my  dear  sir,"  said  I,  "  I  can't  stop 
here  to  talk  about  that.  They  are  calling 
for  the  captain  now." 

"  Oh,  he  's  in  no  hurry,"  said  my  com 
panion.  "  He  's  collecting  his  papers,  I  sup 
pose,  and  he  knows  his  vessel  will  not  sink 
under  him  while  he  is  doing  it.  I  'm  not 
going  in  that  boat ;  I  have  n't  the  least  idea 
of  such  a  thing.  It  will  be  odiously  crowded, 
and  I  assure  you,  sir,  that  if  the  sea  should 
be  rough  that  boat  will  be  dangerous.  Even 
now  she  is  overloaded." 
4 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

I  looked  at  the  man  in  amazement.  He 
had  spoken  earnestly,  but  he  was  as  calm  as 
if  we  were  standing  on  a  sidewalk,  and  he 
endeavoring  to  dissuade  me  from  boarding 
an  overcrowded  street-car.  Before  I  could 
say  anything  he  spoke  again : 

"  I  am  going  to  remain  on  this  ship.  She 
is  a  hundred  times  safer  than  any  of  those 
boats.  I  have  had  a  great  deal  of  experience 
in  regard  to  vessels  and  ocean  navigation, 
and  it  will  be  a  long  time  before  this  vessel 
sinks,  if  she  ever  sinks  of  her  own  accord. 
She  's  just  as  likely  to  float  as  that  dere 
lict  we  ran  into.  The  steam  is  nearly  out 
of  her  boilers  by  this  time,  and  nothing  is 
likely  to  happen  to  her.  I  wish  you  would 
stay  with  me.  Here  we  will  be  safe,  with 
plenty  of  room,  and  plenty  to  eat  and  drink. 
When  it  is  daylight  we  will  hoist  a  flag  of 
distress,  which  will  be  much  more  likely  to 
be  seen  than  anything  that  can  flutter  from 
those  little  boats.  If  you  have  noticed,  sir, 
the  inclination  of  this  deck  is  not  greater 
now  than  it  was  half  an  hour  ago.  That 
proves  that  our  bow  has  settled  down  about 
as  far  as  it  is  going.  I  think  it  likely  that 
5 


THE  VIZIER  OF  THE 

the  water  has  entered  only  a  few  of  the  for 
ward  compartments." 

The  man  spoke  so  confidently  that  his 
words  made  an  impression  upon  me.  I  knew 
that  it  very  often  happens  that  a  wreck  floats 
for  a  long  time,  and  the  boat  from  which  the 
men  were  now  frantically  shouting  for  the 
captain  would  certainly  be  dangerously 
crowded. 

"  Stay  with  me,"  said  Mr.  Crowder,  "  and 
I  assure  you,  with  as  much  reason  as  any 
man  can  assure  any  other  man  of  anything  in 
this  world,  that  you  will  be  perfectly  safe. 
This  steamer  is  not  going  to  sink." 

There  were  rapid  footsteps,  and  I  saw  the 
captain  and  his  second  officer  approaching. 

"  Step  back  here,"  said  Mr.  Crowder,  pull 
ing  me  by  the  coat.  "  Don't  let  them  see 
us.  They  may  drag  us  on  board  that  con 
founded  boat.  Keep  quiet,  sir,  and  let  them 
get  off.  They  think  they  are  the  last  on 
board." 

Involuntarily  I  obeyed  him,  and  we  stood 
in  the  shadow  of  the  great  funnel.  The 
captain  had  reached  the  rail. 

"  Is  every  one  in  the  boats  ?  "  he  shouted, 
6 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

in  French  and  in  English.  "  Is  every  one  in 
the  boats  ?  I  am  going  to  leave  the  vessel." 

I  made  a  start  as  if  to  rush  toward  him, 
but  Crowder  held  me  by  the  arm. 

"Don't  you  do  it,"  he  whispered  very 
earnestly.  "  I  have  the  greatest  possible 
desire  to  save  you.  Stay  where  you  are, 
and  you  will  be  all  right.  That  overloaded 
boat  may  capsize  in  half  an  hour." 

I  could  not  help  it ;  I  believed  him.  My 
own  judgment  seemed  suddenly  to  rise  up 
and  ask  me  why  I  should  leave  the  solid 
deck  of  the  steamer  for  that  perilous  little 
boat. 

I  need  say  but  little  more  in  regard  to 
this  shipwreck.  When  the  fog  lifted,  about 
ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,  we  could  see  no 
signs  of  any  of  the  boats.  A  mile  or  so  away 
lay  the  dull  black  line  of  the  derelict,  as  if 
she  were  some  savage  beast  who  had  bitten 
and  torn  us,  and  was  now  sullenly  waiting  to 
see  us  die  of  the  wound.  We  hoisted  a  flag, 
union  down,  and  then  we  went  below  to  get 
some  breakfast.  Mr.  Crowder  knew  all  about 
the  ship,  and  where  to  find  everything.  He 
told  me  he  had  made  so  many  voyages 
7 


THE  VIZIER   OF  THE 

that  he  felt  almost  as  much  at  home  on  sea 
as  on  land.  We  made  ourselves  comfortable 
all  day,  and  at  night  we  went  to  our  rooms, 
and  I  slept  fairly  well,  although  there  was  a 
very  disagreeable  slant  to  my  berth.  The 
next  day,  early  in  the  afternoon,  our  signal 
of  distress  was  seen  by  a  tramp  steamer  on 
her  way  to  New  York,  and  we  were  taken  off. 

We  cruised  about  for  many  hours  in  the 
direction  the  boats  had  probably  taken,  and 
the  next  day  we  picked  up  two  of  them  in 
a  sorry  condition,  the  occupants  having  suf 
fered  many  hardships  and  privations.  We 
never  had  news  of  the  captain's  boat,  but  the 
others  were  rescued  by  a  sailing-vessel  going 
eastward. 

Before  we  reached  New  York,  Mr.  Crow- 
der  had  made  me  promise  that  I  would  spend 
a  few  days  with  him  at  his  home  in  that  city. 
His  family  was  small,  he  told  me, —  a  wife, 
and  a  daughter  about  six, —  and  he  wanted 
me  to  know  them.  Naturally  we  had  be 
come  great  friends.  Very  likely  the  man 
had  saved  my  life,  and  he  had  done  it  with 
out  any  act  of  heroism  or  daring,  but  simply 
by  impressing  me  with  the  fact  that  his  judg- 
8 


"  'DON'T  YOU  DO  IT.'  " 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

ment  was  better  than  mine.  I  am  apt  to 
object  to  people  of  superior  judgment,  but 
Mr.  Crowder  was  an  exception  to  the  ordi 
nary  superior  person.  From  the  way  he 
talked  it  was  plain  that  he  had  had  much 
experience  of  various  sorts,  and  that  he  had 
greatly  advantaged  thereby;  but  he  gave 
himself  no  airs  on  this  account,  and  there  was 
nothing  patronizing  about  him.  If  I  were 
able  to  tell  him  anything  he  did  not  know,— 
and  I  frequently  was, —  he  was  very  glad  to 
hear  it. 

Moreover,  Mr.  Crowder  was  a  very  good 
man  to  look  at.  He  was  certainly  over 
fifty,  and  his  closely  trimmed  hair  was  white, 
but  he  had  a  fresh  and  florid  complexion. 
He  was  tall  and  well  made,  fashionably 
dressed,  and  had  an  erect  and  somewhat 
military  carriage.  He  was  fond  of  talking, 
and  seemed  fond  of  me,  and  these  points  in 
his  disposition  attracted  me  very  much. 

My  relatives  were  few,  they  lived  in  the 
West,  and  I  never  had  had  a  friend  whose 
company  was  so  agreeable  to  me  as  that  of 
Mr.  Crowder. 

Mr.  Crowder's  residence  was  a  handsome 

ii 


THE  VIZIER  OF  THE 

house  in  the  upper  part  of  the  city.  His  wife 
was  a  slender  lady,  scarcely  half  his  age,  with 
a  sweet  and  interesting  Tace,  and  was  attired 
plainly  but  tastefully.  In  general  appear 
ance  she  seemed  to  be  the  opposite  of  her 
husband  in  every  way.  She  had  suffered 
a  week  of  anxiety,  and  was  so  rejoiced  at 
having  her  husband  again  that  when  I  met 
her,  some  hours  after  Crowder  had  reached 
the  house,  her  glorified  face  seemed  like  that 
of  an  angel.  But  there  was  nothing  demon 
strative  about  her.  Even  in  her  great  joy 
she  was  as  quiet  as  a  dove,  and  I  was  not 
surprised  when  her  husband  afterward  told 
me  that  she  was  a  Quaker. 

I  was  entertained  very  handsomely  by  the 
Crowders.  I  spent  several  days  with  them, 
and  although  they  were  so  happy  to  see  each 
other,  they  made  it  very  plain  that  they  were 
also  happy  to  have  me  with  them,  he  be 
cause  he  liked  me,  she  because  he  liked  me. 

On  the  day  before  my  intended  departure, 
Mr.  Crowder  and  I  were  smoking,  after  din 
ner,  in  his  study.  He  had  been  speaking 
of  people  and  things  that  he  had  seen  in 
various  parts  of  the  world,  but  after  a  time 
12 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

he  became  a  little  abstracted,  and  allowed 
me  to  do  most  of  the  talking. 

"  You  must  excuse  me,"  he  said  suddenly, 
when  I  had  repeated  a  question ;  "  you  must 
not  think  me  willingly  inattentive,  but  I  was 
considering  something  important — very  im 
portant.  Ever  since  you  have  been  here,— 
almost  ever  since  I  have  known  you,  I 
might  say, —  the  desire  has  been  growing 
upon  me  to  tell  you  something  known  to 
no  living  being  but  myself." 

This  offer  did  not  altogether  please  me ; 
I  had  grown  very  fond  of  Crowder,  but  the 
confidences  of  friends  are  often  very  em 
barrassing.  At  this  moment  the  study 
door  was  gently  opened,  and  Mrs.  Crowder 
came  in. 

"No,"  said  she,  addressing  her  husband 
with  a  smile;  "thee  need  not  let  thy  con 
science  trouble  thee.  I  have  not  come  to 
say  anything  about  gentlemen  being  too 
long  over  their  smoking.  I  only  want  to 
say  that  Mrs.  Norris  and  two  other  ladies 
have  just  called,  and  I  am  going  down  to 
see  them.  They  are  a  committee,  and  will 
not  care  for  the  society  of  gentlemen.  I  am 
13 


THE  VIZIER  OF  THE 

sorry  to  lose  any  of  your  company,  Mr.  Ran 
dolph,  especially  as  you  insist  that  this  is  to 
be  your  last  evening  with  us;  but  I  do  not 
think  you  would  care  anything  about  our 
ward  organizations." 

"  Now,  is  n't  that  a  wife  to  have ! "  ex 
claimed  my  host,  as  we  resumed  our  cigars. 
"She  thinks  of  everybody's  happiness,  and 
even  wishes  us  to  feel  free  to  take  another 
cigar  if  we  desire  it,  although  in  her  heart 
she  disapproves  of  smoking." 

We  settled  ourselves  again  to  talk,  and  as 
there  really  could  be  no  objection  to  my  lis 
tening  to  Crowder's  confidences,  I  made  none. 

"  What  I  have  to  tell  you,"  he  said  pres 
ently,  "concerns  my  life,  present,  past,  and 
future.  Pretty  comprehensive,  is  n't  it  ?  I 
have  long  been  looking  for  some  one  to 
whom  I  should  be  so  drawn  by  bonds  of 
sympathy  that  I  should  wish  to  tell  him  my 
story.  Now,  I  feel  that  I  am  so  drawn  to 
you.  The  reason  for  this,  in  some  degree  at 
least,  is  because  you  believe  insme.  You 
are  not  weak,  and  it  is  my  opinion  that  on 
important  occasions  you  are  very  apt  to  judge 
for  yourself,  and  not  to  care  very  much  for 
14 


HIS    WIFE    WAS    A   SLENDER    LADY. : 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

the  opinions  of  other  people ;  and  yet,  on  a 
most  impotrant  occasion,  you  allowed  me  to 
judge  for  you.  You  are  not  only  able  to 
rely  on  yourself,  but  you  know  when  it  is 
right  to  rely  on  others.  I  believe  you  to 
be  possessed  of  a  fine  and  healthy  sense  of 
appreciation." 

I  laughed,  and  begged  him  not  to  bestow 
too  many  compliments  upon  me,  for  I  was 
not  used  to  them. 

"  I  am  not  thinking  of  complimenting 
you,"  he  said.  "  I  am  simply  telling  you 
what  I  think  of  you  in  order  that  you  may 
understand  why  I  tell  you  my  story.  I  must 
first  assure  you,  however,  that  I  do  not  wish 
to  place  any  embarrassing  responsibility  upon 
you  by  taking  you  into  my  confidence.  All 
that  I  say  to  you,  you  may  say  to  others 
when  the  time  comes;  but  first  I  must  tell 
the  tale  to  you." 

He  sat  up  straight  in  his  chair,  and  put 
down  his  cigar.  "  I  will  begin,"  he  said,  "  by 
stating  that  I  am  the  Vizier  of  the  Two- 
horned  Alexander." 

I  sat  up  even  straighter  than  my  compan 
ion,  and  gazed  steadfastly  at  him. 
17 


THE   VIZIER  OF  THE 

"  No,"  said  he,  "  I  am  not  crazy.  I  ex 
pected  you  to  think  that,  and  am  entirely 
prepared  for  your  look  of  amazement  and 
incipient  horror.  I  will  ask  you,  however, 
to  set  aside  for  a  time  the  dictates  of  your 
own  sense,  and  hear  what  I  have  to  say.  Then 
you  can  take  the  whole  matter  into  consid 
eration,  and  draw  your  own  conclusions." 
He  now  leaned  back  in  his  chair,  and  went 
on  with  his  story :  "  It  would  be  more  cor 
rect,  perhaps,  for  me  to  say  that  I  was  the 
Vizier  of  the  Two-horned  Alexander,  for 
that  great  personage  died  long  ago.  Now, 
I  don't  believe  you  ever  heard  anything 
about  the  Two-horned  Alexander." 

I  had  recovered  sufficiently  from  my  sur 
prise  to  assure  him  that  he  was  right. 

My  host  nodded.  "  I  thought  so,"  said 
he;  "very  few  people  do  know  anything 
about  that  powerful  potentate.  He  lived  in 
the  time  of  Abraham.  He  was  a  man  of 
considerable  culture,  even  of  travel,  and  of 
an  adventurous  disposition.  I  entered  into 
the  service  of  his  court  when  I  was  a  very 
young  man,  and  gradually  I  rose  in  position 
until  I  became  his  chief  officer,  or  vizier." 
18 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

I  sprang  from  my  chair.  "  Time  of  Abra 
ham  !  "  I  exclaimed.  "  This  is  simply  —  " 

"  No ;  it  is  not,"  he  interrupted,  and  speak 
ing  in  perfect  good  humor.  "  I  beg  you  will 
sit  down  and  listen  to  me.  What  I  have  to 
say  to  you  is  not  nearly  so  wonderful  as  the 
nature  and  power  of  electricity." 

I  obeyed ;  he  had  touched  me  on  a  tender 
spot,  for  I  am  an  electrician,  and  can  appre 
ciate  the  wonderful. 

"  There  has  been  a  great  deal  of  discus 
sion,"  he  continued,  "in  regard  to  the  peculiar 
title  given  to  Alexander,  but  the  appellation 
'  two-horned '  has  frequently  been  used  in  an 
cient  times.  You  know  Michelangelo  gave 
two  horns  to  Moses;  but  he  misunderstood 
the  tradition  he  had  heard,  and  furnished 
the  prophet  with  real  horns.  Alexander 
wore  his  hair  arranged  over  his  forehead  in 
the  shape  of  two  protruding  horns.  This 
was  simply  a  symbol  of  high  authority;  as 
the  bull  is  monarch  of  the  herd,  so  was  he 
monarch  among  men.  He  was  the  first  to 
use  this  symbol,  although  it  was  imitated 
afterward  by  various  Eastern  potentates. 

"  As  I  have  said,  Alexander  was  a  man  of 
19 


THE  VIZIER  OF   THE 

enterprise,  and  it  had  come  to  his  knowledge 
that  there  existed  somewhere  a  certain  spring 
the  waters  of  which  would  confer  immortal 
ity  upon  any  descendant  of  Shem  who  should 
drink  of  them,  and  he  started  out  to  find  this 
spring.  I  traveled  with  him  for  more  than 
a  year.  It  was  on  this  journey  that  he 
visited  Abraham  when  the  latter  was  build 
ing  the  great  edifice  which  the  Mohamme 
dans  claim  as  their  holy  temple,  the  Kaaba. 

"  It  was  more  than  a  month  after  we  had 
parted  from  Abraham  that  I,  being  in  ad 
vance  of  the  rest  of  the  company,  noticed  a 
little  pool  in  the  shade  of  a  rock,  and  being 
very  warm  and  thirsty,  I  got  down  on  my 
hands  and  knees,  and  putting  my  face  to  the 
water,  drank  of  it.  I  drank  heartily,  and 
when  I  raised  my  head,  I  saw,  to  my  amaze 
ment,  that  there  was  not  a  drop  of  water  left 
in  the  spring.  Now  it  so  happened  that  when 
Alexander  came  to  this  spot,  he  stopped,  and 
having  regarded  the  little  hollow  under  the 
rock,  together  with  its  surroundings,  he  dis 
mounted  and  stood  by  it.  He  called  me, 
and  said :  '  According  to  all  the  descriptions 
I  have  read,  this  might  have  been  the  spring 
20 


"  '  TIME    OF    ABRAHAM  !'    I    EXCLAIMED." 


TWO-HORNED   ALEXANDER 

of  immortality  for  which  I  have  been  search 
ing;  but  it  cannot  be  such  now,  for  there  is 
no  water  in  it.'  Then  he  stooped  down  and 
looked  carefully  at  the  hollow.  4  There  has 
been  water  here,'  said  he,  4  and  that  not  long 
ago,  for  the  ground  is  wet.' 

"A  horrible  suspicion  now  seized  upon 
me.  Could  I  have  drained  the  contents  of  the 
spring  of  inestimable  value  ?  Could  I,  with 
out  knowing  it,  have  deprived  my  king  of  the 
great  prize  for  which  he  had  searched  so 
long,  with  such  labor  and  pains'?  Of  course 
I  was  certain  of  nothing,  but  I  bowed  before 
Alexander,  and  told  him  that  I  had  found  an 
insignificant  little  puddle  at  the  place,  that  I 
had  tasted  it  and  found  it  was  nothing  but 
common  water,  and  in  quantity  so  small  that 
it  scarcely  sufficed  to  quench  my  thirst.  If 
he  would  consent  to  camp  in  the  shade,  and 
wait  a  few  hours,  water  would  trickle  again 
into  the  little  basin,  and  fill  it,  and  he  could 
see  for  himself  that  this  could  not  be  the 
spring  of  which  he  was  in  search. 

"  We  waited  at  that  place  for  the  rest  of 
the  day  and  the  whole  of  the  night,  and  the 
next  morning  the  little  basin  was  empty  and 
23 


THE  VIZIER  OF  THE 

entirely  dry.  Alexander  did  not  reproach 
me  ;  he  was  accustomed  to  rule  all  men,  even 
himself,  and  he  forbade  himself  to  think  that 
I  had  interfered  with  the  great  object  of  his 
search.  But  he  sent  me  home  to  his  capital 
city,  and  continued  his  journey  without  me. 
4  Such  a  thirsty  man  must  not  travel  with 
me,'  he  said.  '  If  we  should  really  come  to 
the  immortal  spring,  he  would  be  sure  to 
drink  it  all.' 

"  Nine  years  afterward  Alexander  returned 
to  his  palace,  and  when  I  presented  myself 
before  him  he  regarded  me  steadfastly.  I 
knew  why  he  was  looking  at  me,  and  I 
trembled.  At  length  he  spoke  :  '  Thou  art 
not  one  day  older  than  when  I  dismissed  thee 
from  my  company.  It  was  indeed  the  foun 
tain  of  immortality  which  thou  didst  discover, 
and  of  which  thou  didst  drink  every  drop.  I 
have  searched  over  the  whole  habitable  world, 
and  there  is  no  other.  Thou,  too,  art  an  aris 
tocrat  ;  thou,  too,  art  of  the  family  of  Shem. 
It  was  for  this  reason  that  I  placed  thee  near 
me,  that  I  gave  thee  great  power;  and  now 
thou  hast  destroyed  all  my  hopes,  my  aspira 
tions.  Thou  hast  put  an  end  to  my  ambi- 
24 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

tions.  I  had  believed  that  I  should  rule  the 
world,  and  rule  it  forever.'  His  face  grew 
black;  his  voice  was  terrible.  'Retire!'  he 
said.  '  I  will  attend  to  thy  future.' 

"  I  retired,  but  my  furious  sovereign  never 
saw  me  again.  I  was  fifty-three  years  old 
when  I  drank  the  water  in  the  little  pool 
under  the  rock,  and  I  was  well  aware  that 
at  the  time  of  my  sovereign's  return  I  felt 
no  older  and  looked  no  older.  But  still  I 
hoped  that  this  was  merely  the  result  of  my 
general  good  health,  and  that  when  Alex 
ander  came  back  he  would  inform  me  that 
he  had  discovered  the  veritable  spring  of  im 
mortality  ;  so  I  retained  my  high  office,  and 
waited.  But  I  had  made  my  plans  for  escape 
in  case  my  hope  should  not  be  realized.  In 
two  minutes  from  the  time  I  left  his  presence 
I  had  begun  my  flight,  and  there  were  no 
horses  in  all  his  dominions  which  could  equal 
the  speed  of  mine. 

"  Now  began  a  long,  long  period  of  danger 
and  terror,  of  concealment  and  deprivation. 
I  fled  into  other  lands,  and  these  were  con 
quered  in  order  that  I  might  be  found.  But 
at  last  Alexander  died,  and  his  son  died,  and 
25 


THE  VIZIER   OF  THE 

the  sons  of  his  son  died,  and  the  whole  story 
was  forgotten  or  disbelieved,  and  I  was  no 
longer  in  danger  of  living  forever  as  an 
example  of  the  ingenious  cruelty  of  an  ex 
asperated  monarch. 

"  I  do  not  intend  to  recount  my  life  and 
adventures  since  that  time;  in  fact,  I  shall 
scarcely  touch  upon  them.  You  can  see  for 
yourself  that  that  would  be  impossible.  One 
might  as  well  attempt  to  read  a  history  of 
the  world  in  a  single  evening.  I  merely  want 
to  say  enough  to  make  you  understand  the 
situation. 

"A  hundred  years  after  I  had  fled  from 
Alexander  I  was  still  fifty-three  years  old, 
and  knew  that  that  would  be  my  age  forever. 
I  stayed  so  long  in  the  place  where  I  first 
established  myself  that  people  began  to  look 
upon  me  with  suspicion.  Seeing  me  grow  no 
older,  they  thought  I  was  a  wizard,  and  I  was 
obliged  to  seek  a  new  habitation.  Ever 
since,  my  fate  has  been  the  necessity  of  mov 
ing  from  place  to  place.  I  would  go  some 
where  as  a  man  beginning  to  show  signs  of 
age,  and  I  would  remain  as  long  as  a  man 
could  reasonably  be  supposed  to  live  without 
26 


TWO-HORNED   ALEXANDER 

becoming  truly  old  and  decrepit.  Sometimes 
I  remained  in  a  place  far  longer  than  my  pru 
dence  should  have  permitted,  and  many  were 
the  perils  I  escaped  on  account  of  this  rash 
ness;  but  I  have  gradually  learned  wisdom." 
The  man  spoke  so  quietly  and  calmly,  and 
made  his  statements  in  such  a  matter-of-fact 
way,  that  I  listened  to  him  with  the  same 
fascinated  attention  I  had  given  to  the  theory 
of  telegraphy  without  wires,  when  it  was  first 
propounded  to  me.  In  fact,  I  had  been  so 
influenced  by  his  own  conviction  of  the  truth 
of  what  he  said  that  I  had  been  on  the  point 
of  asking  him  if  Abraham  had  really  had 
anything  to  do  with  the  building  of  the  Islam 
temple,  but  had  been  checked  by  the  thought 
of  the  utter  absurdity  of  supposing  that  this 
man  sitting  in  front  of  me  could  possibly 
know  anything  about  it.  But  now  I  spoke. 
I  did  not  want  him  to  suppose  that  I  believed 
anything  he  said,  nor  did  I  really  intend  to 
humor  him  in  his  insane  retrospections;  but 
what  he  had  said  suggested  to  me  the  very 
apropos  remark  that  one  might  suppose  he 
had  been  giving  a  new  version  of  the  story 
of  the  Wandering  Jew. 
27 


THE  VIZIER  OF  THE 

At  this  he  sat  up  very  straight,  on  the 
extreme  edge  of  his  chair ;  his  eyes  sparkled. 

"  You  must  excuse  me,"  he  said,  "  but 
for  twenty  seconds  I  am  going  to  be  angry. 
I  can't  help  it.  It  is  n't  your  fault,  but  that 
remark  always  enrages  me.  I  expect  it,  of 
course,  but  it  makes  my  blood  boil,  all  the 
same." 

"  Then  you  have  told  your  story  before  *?  " 
I  said. 

"  Yes,"  he  answered.  "  I  have  told  it  to 
certain  persons  to  whom  I  thought  it  should 
be  known.  Some  of  these  have  believed  it, 
some  have  not;  but,  believers  or  disbeliev 
ers,  all  have  died  and  disappeared.  Their 
opinions  are  nothing  to  me.  You  are  now 
the  only  living  being  who  knows  my  story." 

I  was  going  to  ask  a  question  here,  but  he 
did  not  give  me  a  chance.  He  was  very 
much  moved. 

"  I  hate  that  Wandering  Jew,"  said  he, 
"  or,  I  should  say,  I  despise  the  thin  film  of 
a  tradition  from  which  he  was  constructed. 
There  never  was  a  Wandering  Jew.  There 
could  not  have  been ;  it  is  impossible  to 
conceive  of  a  human  being  sent  forth  to 
28 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

wander  in  wretchedness  forever.  Moreover, 
suppose  there  had  been  such  a  man,  what  a 
poor,  modern  creature  he  would  be  compared 
with  me  !  Even  now  he  would  be  less  than 
two  thousand  years  old.  You  must  excuse 
my  perturbation,  but  I  am  sure  that  during 
the  whole  of  the  Christian  era  I  have  never 
told  my  story  to  any  one  who  did  not,  in 
some  way  or  other,  make  an  absurd  or  irri 
tating  reference  to  the  Wandering  Jew.  I 
have  often  thought,  and  I  have  no  doubt  I 
am  right,  that  the  ancient  story  of  my  ad 
ventures  as  Kroudhr,  the  Vizier  of  the  Two- 
horned  Alexander,  combined  with  what  I 
have  related,  in  one  century  or  another,  of 
my  subsequent  experiences,  has  given  rise 
to  the  tradition  of  that  very  unpleasant  Jew 
of  whom  Eugene  Sue  and  many  others  have 
made  good  use.  It  is  very  natural  that  there 
should  be  legends  about  people  who  in  some 
way  or  other  are  enabled  to  live  forever.  If 
Ponce  De  Leon  and  his  companions  had 
mysteriously  disappeared  when  in  search  of 
the  Fountain  of  Youth,  there  would  be 
stories  now  about  rejuvenated  Spaniards 
wandering  about  the  earth,  and  who  would 
29 


THE   VIZIER  OF  THE 

always  continue  to  wander.  But  the  Foun 
tain  of  Youth  is  not  a  desirable  water-supply, 
and  a  young  person  who  should  find  such 
a  pool  would  do  well  to  wait  until  he  had 
arrived  at  maturity  before  entering  upon  an 
existence  of  indefinite  continuance. 

"  But  I  must  go  on  with  my  story. 
At  one  time  I  made  for  myself  a  home, 
and  remained  in  it  for  many,  many  years 
without  making  any  change.  I  became  a 
sort  of  hermit,  and  lived  in  a  rocky  cave.  I 
allowed  my  hair  and  beard  to  grow,  so  that 
people  really  thought  I  was  getting  older 
and  older;  at  last  I  acquired  the  reputa 
tion  of  a  prophet,  and  was  held  in  venera 
tion  by  a  great  many  religious  people.  Of 
course  I  could  not  prophesy,  but  as  I  had 
such  a  vast  deal  of  experience  I  was  able  to 
predicate  intelligently  something  about  the 
future  from  my  knowledge  of  the  past.  I 
became  famed  as  a  wonderful  seer,  and  there 
were  a  great  many  curious  stories  told  about 
me. 

"  Among  my  visitors  at  that  time  was 
Moses.  He  had  heard  of  me,  and  came  to 
see  what  manner  of  man  I  was.  We  be- 
30 


"MOSES    ASKED    EMBARRASSING    QUESTIONS. 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

came  very  well  acquainted.  He  was  a  man 
anxious  to  obtain  information,  and  he  asked 
me  questions  which  embarrassed  me  very 
much ;  but  I  do  not  know  that  he  suspected 
I  had  lived  beyond  the  ordinary  span  of 
life.  There  are  a  good  many  traditions 
about  this  visit  of  Moses,  some  of  which  are 
extant  at  the  present  day;  but  these,  of 
course,  are  the  result  of  what  might  be  called 
cumulative  imagination.  Many  of  them  are 
of  Moslem  origin,  and  the  great  Arabian 
historian  Tabari  has  related  some  of  them. 

"  I  learned  a  great  deal  while  I  lived  in 
this  cave,  both  from  scholars  and  from 
nature;  but  at  last  new  generations  arose 
who  did  not  honor  or  even  respect  me,  and 
by  some  I  was  looked  upon  as  a  fraudulent 
successor  to  the  old  prophet  of  whom  their 
ancestors  had  told  them,  and  so  I  thought 
it  prudent  to  leave." 

My  interest  in  this  man's  extraordinary 
tissue  of  retrospection  was  increasing,  and  I 
felt  that  I  must  not  doubt  nor  deny ;  to  do 
so  would  be  to  break  the  spell,  to  close 
the  book. 

"  Did  it  not  sometimes  fill  you  with  horror 
33 


THE  VIZIER  OF   THE 

to  think  that  you   must  live   forever  ? "  I 
asked. 

"  Yes,"  he  answered,  "  that  has  happened 
to  me;  but  such  feelings  have  long,  long 
passed  away.  If  you  could  have  lived  as  I 
have,  and  had  seen  the  world  change  from 
what  it  was  when  I  was  young  to  what  it  is 
now,  you  would  understand  how  a  man  of 
my  disposition,  a  man  of  my  overpowering 
love  of  knowledge,  love  of  discovery,  love 
of  improvement,  love  of  progress  of  all  kinds, 
would  love  to  live.  In  fact,  if  I  were  now 
to  be  told  that  at  the  end  of  five  thousand 
years  I  must  expire  and  cease,  it  would  fill 
me  with  gloom.  Having  seen  so  much,  I 
expect  more  than  most  men  are  capable  of 
comprehending.  And  I  shall  see  it  all  - 
see  the  centuries  unfold,  behold  the  wonder 
ful  things  of  the  future  arise  !  The  very 
thought  of  it  fills  me  with  inexpressible  joy." 

For  a  few  moments  he  remained  silent.  I 
could  understand  the  state  of  his  mind,  no 
matter  how  those  mental  conditions  had  been 
brought  about. 

"  But  you  must  not  suppose,"  he  contin 
ued,  "  that  this  earthly  immortality  is  with- 
34 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

out  its  pains,  its  fears,  I  may  say  its  horrors. 
It  is  precisely  on  account  of  all  these  that  I 
am  now  talking  to  you.  The  knowledge 
that  my  life  is  always  safe,  no  matter  in 
what  peril  I  may  be,  does  not  relieve  me 
from  anxiety  and  apprehension  of  evil.  It 
would  be  a  curse  to  live  if  I  were  not  in 
sound  physical  condition ;  it  would  be  a 
curse  to  live  as  a  slave ;  it  would  be  a  curse 
to  live  in  a  dungeon.  I  have  known  vicissi 
tudes  and  hardships  of  every  kind,  but  I  have 
been  fortunate  enough  to  preserve  myself 
whole  and  unscathed,  in  spite  of  the  dangers 
I  have  incurred. 

"  I  often  think  from  what  a  terrible  fate 
I  saved  my  master,  Alexander  of  the  two 
horns.  If  he  had  found  the  fountain  he 
might  have  enjoyed  his  power  and  dominion 
for  a  few  generations.  Then  he  would  have 
been  thrown  down,  cast  out,  and  even  if  he 
had  escaped  miseries  which  I  cannot  bear  to 
mention,  he  never  could  have  regained  his 
high  throne.  He  would  have  been  con 
demned  to  live  forever  in  a  station  for  which 
he  was  not  fitted. 

"It  is  very  different  with  me.  My  nature 
35 


THE   VIZIER   OF   THE 

allows  me  to  adapt  myself  to  various  condi 
tions,  and  my  habits  of  prudence  prevent  me 
from  seeking  to  occupy  any  position  which 
may  be  dangerous  to  me  by  making  me  con 
spicuous,  and  from  which  I  could  not  easily 
retire  when  I  believe  the  time  has  come  to 
do  so.  I  have  been  almost  everything;  I 
have  even  been  a  soldier.  But  I  have  never 
taken  up  arms  except  when  obliged  to  do 
so,  and  I  have  known  as  little  of  war  as  pos 
sible.  No  weapon  or  missile  could  kill  me, 
but  I  have  a  great  regard  for  my  arms  and 
legs.  I  have  been  a  ruler  of  men,  but  I  have 
trembled  in  my  high  estate,  for  I  feared  the 
populace.  They  could  do  everything  except 
take  my  life.  Therefore  I  made  it  a  point 
to  abdicate  when  the  skies  were  clear.  In 
such  cases  I  set  out  on  journeys  from  which 
I  never  returned. 

"  I  have  also  lived  the  life  of  the  lowly ;  I 
have  drawn  water,  and  I  have  hewn  wood. 
By  the  way,  that  reminds  me  of  a  little  inci 
dent  which  may  interest  you.  I  was  em 
ployed  in  the  East  India  House  at  the  time 
Charles  Lamb  was  a  clerk  there.  It  was  not 
long  after  he  had  begun  to  contribute  his 
36 


AN    ENCOUNTER    WITH    CHARLES    LAMB. 


TWO-HORNED   ALEXANDER 

Elia  essays  to  the  '  London  Magazine.'  I 
had  read  some  of  them,  and  was  interested  in 
the  man.  I  met  him  several  times  in  the 
corridors  or  on  the  stairways,  and  one  day  I 
was  going  up-stairs,  carrying  a  hod  of  coals, 
as  he  was  coming  down.  Looking  up  at 
him,  I  made  a  misstep,  and  came  near  drop 
ping  a  portion  of  my  burden.  4  My  good 
man,'  said  he,  with  a  queer  smile,  '  if  you 
would  learn  to  carry  your  coals  as  well  as 
you  carry  your  age  you  would  do  well.'  I 
don't  remember  what  I  said  in  reply;  but  I 
know  I  thought  if  Charles  Lamb  could  be 
made  aware  of  my  real  age  he  would  aban 
don  his  Elia  work  and  devote  himself  to  me." 

"  It  is  a  pity  you  did  not  tell  him,"  I  sug 
gested. 

"  No,"  replied  my  host.  "  He  might  have 
been  interested,  but  he  could  not  have  ap 
preciated  the  situation,  even  if  I  had  told 
him  everything.  He  would  not  really  have 
known  my  age,  for  he  would  not  have  be 
lieved  me.  I  might  have  found  myself  in  a 
lunatic  asylum.  I  never  saw  Lamb  again, 
and  very  soon  after  that  meeting  I  came  to 
America." 

39 


II 


1HERE  are  two  points  about  your 
story  that  I  do  not  comprehend," 
said  I  (and  as  I  spoke  I  could  not 
help  the  thought  that  in  reality  I 
did  not  comprehend  any  of  it).  "  In  the 
first  place,  I  don't  see  how  you  could  live 
for  a  generation  or  two  in  one  place  and 
then  go  off  to  an  entirely  new  locality.  I 
should  think  there  were  not  enough  inhab 
ited  spots  in  the  world  to  accommodate  you 
in  such  extensive  changes." 

Mr.  Crowder  smiled.  "  I  don't  wonder 
you  ask  that  question,"  he  said;  "but  in  fact 
it  was  not  always  necessary  for  me  to  seek 
new  places.  There  are  towns  in  which  I 
have  taken  up  my  residence  many  times. 
But  as  I  arrived  each  time  as  a  stranger 
from  afar,  and  as  these  sojourns  were  sepa 
rated  by  many  years,  there  was  no  one  to 
40 


THE   VIZIER  OF  ALEXANDER 

suppose  me  to  be  a  person  who  had  lived  in 
that  place  a  century  or  two  before." 

"  Then    you    never    had    your    portrait 
painted,"  I  remarked. 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  have,"  he  replied.  "  Toward 
the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century  I  was  liv 
ing  in  Florence,  being  at  that  time  married 
to  a  lady  of  wealthy  family,  and  she  insisted 
upon  my  having  my  portrait  painted  by 
Cimabue,  who,  as  you  know,  was  the  master 
of  Giotto.  After  my  wife's  death  I  departed 
from  Florence,  leaving  behind  me  the  im 
pression  that  I  intended  soon  to  return ;  and 
I  would  have  been  glad  to  take  the  portrait 
with  me,  but  I  had  no  opportunity.  It  was 
in  1503  that  I  went  back  to  Florence,  and  as 
soon  as  I  could  I  visited  the  stately  mansion 
where  I  had  once  lived,  and  there  in  the 
gallery  still  hung  the  portrait.  This  was  an 
unsatisfactory  discovery,  for  I  might  wish  at 
some  future  time  to  settle  again  in  Florence, 
and  I  had  hoped  that  the  portrait  had  faded, 
or  that  it  had  been  destroyed ;  but  Cimabue 
painted  too  well,  and  his  work  was  then  held 
in  high  value,  without  regard  to  his  subject. 
Finding  myself  entirely  alone  in  the  gallery, 
41 


THE  VIZIER  OF  THE 

I  cut  that  picture  from  its  frame.  I  con 
cealed  it  under  my  cloak,  and  when  I 
reached  my  lodging  I  utterly  destroyed  it.  I 
did  not  feel  that  I  was  committing  any  crime 
in  doing  this;  I  had  ordered  and  paid  for 
the  painting,  and  I  felt  that  I  had  a  right  to 
do  what  I  pleased  with  it." 

"  I  don't  see  how  you  can  help  having  your 
picture  taken  in  these  days,"  I  said;  "even 
if  you  refuse  to  go  to  a  photographer's,  you 
can't  escape  the  kodak  people.  You  have  a 
striking  presence." 

"Oh,  I  can't  get  away  from  photogra 
phers,"  he  answered.  "  I  have  had  a  number 
of  pictures  taken,  at  the  request  of  my  wife 
and  other  people.  It  is  impossible  to  avoid 
it,  and  that  is  one  of  the  reasons  why  I  am 
now  telling  you  my  story.  What  is  the 
other  point  about  which  you  wished  to  ask 
me  <?  " 

"  I  cannot  comprehend,"  I  answered,  "  how 
you  should  ever  have  found  yourself  poor 
and  obliged  to  work.  I  should  say  that  a 
man  who  had  lived  so  long  would  have  ac 
cumulated,  in  one  way  or  another,  immense 
wealth,  inexhaustible  treasures." 
42 


I   CUT   THAT   PICTURE    FROM    ITS    FRAME.'  " 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

"Oh,  yes,"  said  he,  with  a  smile;  "Monte 
Cristo,  and  all  that  sort  of  thing.  Your  no 
tion  is  a  perfectly  natural  one,  but  I  assure 
you,  Mr.  Randolph,  that  it  is  founded  upon 
a  mistake.  Over  and  over  and  over  again  I 
have  amassed  wealth;  but  I  have  not  been 
able  to  retain  it  permanently,  and  often  I 
have  suffered  for  the  very  necessaries  of  life. 
I  have  been  hungry,  knowing  that  I  could 
never  starve.  The  explanation  of  this  state 
of  things  is  simple  enough :  I  would  trade ; 
I  would  speculate ;  I  would  marry  an  heir 
ess  ;  I  would  become  rich ;  for  many  years  I 
would  enjoy  my  possessions.  Then  the  time 
would  come  when  people  said  :  '  Who  owns 
these  houses  ?  ' 4  To  whom  belongs  this  money 
in  the  banks  *?  '  '  These  properties  were  pur 
chased  in  our  great-grandfathers'  times;  the 
accounts  in  the  banks  were  opened  long  be 
fore  our  oldest  citizens  were  born.  Who 
is  it  who  is  making  out  leases  and  drawing 
checks  ?  '  I  have  employed  all  sorts  of  sub 
terfuges  in  order  to  retain  my  property,  but 
I  have  always  found  that  to  prove  my  con 
tinued  identity  I  should  have  to  acknowledge 
my  immortality;  and  in  that  case,  of  course, 
3  45 


THE   VIZIER  OF  THE 

I  should  have  been  adjudged  a  lunatic,  and 
everything  would  have  been  taken  from  me. 
So  I  generally  managed,  before  the  time  ar 
rived  when  it  was  actually  necessary  for  me 
to  do  so,  to  turn  my  property,  as  far  as  pos 
sible,  into  money,  and  establish  myself  in 
some  other  place  as  a  stranger.  But  there 
were  times  when  I  was  obliged  to  hurry 
from  my  home  and  take  nothing  with  me. 
Then  I  knew  misery. 

"  It  was  during  the  period  of  one  of  my 
greatest  depressions  that  I  met  with  a  monk 
who  was  afterward  St.  Bruno,  and  I  joined 
the  Carthusian  monastery  which  he  founded 
in  Calabria.  In  the  midst  of  their  asceti 
cism,  their  seclusion,  and  their  silence  I 
hoped  that  I  might  be  asked  no  questions, 
and  need  tell  no  lies ;  I  hoped  that  I  might 
be  allowed  to  live  as  long  as  I  pleased  with 
out  disturbance  :  but  I  found  no  such  immu 
nity.  When  Bruno  died,  and  his  successor 
had  followed  him  into  the  grave,  it  was  pro 
posed  that  I  should  be  the  next  prior ;  but 
this  would  not  have  suited  me  at  all.  I  had 
employed  all  my  time  in  engrossing  books, 
but  the  duties  of  a  prior  were  not  for  me,  so 
46 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

I  escaped,  and  went  out  into  the  world 
again." 

As  I  sat  and  listened  to  Mr.  Crowder,  his 
story  seemed  equally  wonderful  to  me, 
whether  it  were  a  plain  statement  of  facts 
or  the  relation  of  an  insane  dream.  It  was 
not  a  wild  tale,  uttered  in  the  enthusiastic 
excitement  of  a  disordered  mind;  but  it  was 
a  series  of  reminiscences,  told  quietly  and 
calmly,  here  a  little,  there  a  little,  without 
chronological  order,  each  one  touched  upon 
as  it  happened  to  suggest  itself.  From  won 
dering  I  found  myself  every  now  and  then 
believing :  but  whenever  I  realized  the  folly 
in  which  I  was  indulging  myself,  I  shook  off 
my  credulity  and  endeavored  to  listen  with 
interest,  but  without  judgment,  for  in  this 
way  only  could  I  most  thoroughly  enjoy  the 
strange  narrative ;  but  my  lapses  into  uncon 
scious  belief  were  frequent. 

"  You  have  spoken  of  marriage,"  said  I. 
"  Have  you  had  many  wives  ?  " 

My  host  leaned  back  in  his  chair  and 
looked  up  at  the  ceiling.  "  That  is  a  sub 
ject,"  he  said,  "  of  which  I  think  as  little  as 
I  can,  and  yet  I  must  speak  to  you  of  it.  It 
47 


THE   VIZIER  OF  THE 

is  right  that  I  should  do  so.  I  have  been 
married  so  often  that  I  can  scarcely  count  the 
wives  I  have  had.  Beautiful  women,  good 
women,  some  of  them  women  to  whom  I  would 
have  given  immortality  had  I  been  able;  but 
they  died,  and  died,  and  died.  And  here  is 
one  of  the  great  drawbacks  of  living  forever. 
"  Yet  it  was  not  always  the  death  of  my 
wives  which  saddened  me  the  most;  it  was 
their  power  of  growing  old.  I  would  marry 
a  young  woman,  beautiful,  charming.  You 
need  not  be  surprised  that  I  was  able  to  do 
this,  for  in  all  ages  woman  has  been  in  the 
habit  of  disregarding  the  years  of  man,  and 
I  have  always  had  a  youthful  spirit;  I  think 
it  is  Daudet  who  says  that  the  most  danger 
ous  lover  is  the  man  of  fifty-three.  I  would 
live  happily  with  a  wife ;  she  would  gradu 
ally  grow  to  be  the  same  age  as  myself;  and 
then  she  would  become  older  and  older,  and 
I  did  not.  As  I  have  said,  there  were  women 
to  whom  I  would  have  given  immortality  if 
I  could ;  but  I  will  add  that  there  have  been 
times  when  I  would  have  given  up  my  own 
immortality  to  be  able  to  pass  gently  into 
old  age  with  a  beloved  wife. 
48 


TWO-HORNED   ALEXANDER 

"  You  will  want  to  know  if  I  have  had  de 
scendants.  They  exist  by  the  thousand  ;  but 
if  you  ask  me  where  they  are,  I  must  tell 
you  that  I  do  not  know.  I  now  have  but 
one  child,  a  little  girl  who  is  asleep  up-stairs. 
I  have  gathered  around  me  families  of  sons 
and  daughters;  they  have  grown  up,  mar 
ried,  and  my  grandchildren  have  sat  upon 
my  knees.  Sometimes,  at  long  intervals,  I 
have  known  great-grandchildren.  But  when 
my  sons  and  daughters  have  grown  gray  and 
gone  to  their  graves,  I  have  withdrawn  my 
self  from  the  younger  people, —  some  of 
whom  were  not  acquainted  with  me,  others 
even  had  never  heard  of  me, —  and  then  by 
the  next  generation  the  old  ancestor,  if  re 
membered  at  all,  was  connected  only  with 
the  distant  past.  And  so  family  after  family 
have  melted  into  the  great  mass  of  human 
beings,  and  are  as  completely  lost  as  though 
they  were  water  thrown  into  the  sea. 

"  I  have  always  been  fond  of  beautiful 
women,  and  as  you  have  met  Mrs.  Crowder, 
you  know  that  my  disposition  has  not 
changed.  Sarah,  the  wife  of  Abraham,  was 
considered  a  woman  of  great  beauty  in  her 
49 


THE   VIZIER   OF  THE 

day,  and  the  fame  of  her  charms  continues ; 
but  I  assure  you  that  if  she  lived  now  her 
attractions  would  not  have  given  her  husband 
so  much  trouble.  I  saw  a  good  deal  of  Sa 
rah  when  I  visited  Abraham  with  my  master 
Alexander,  and  I  have  seen  many  more 
beautiful  women  since  that  time.  Hagar 
was  a  fine  woman,  but  she  was  too  dark,  and 
her  face  had  an  anxious  expression  which 
interfered  with  her  beauty." 

"  Was  Hagar  really  the  wife  of  Abraham," 
I  asked,  "as  the  Mussulmans  say,  and  was 
Ishmael  considered  his  heir  ?  " 

"  When  I  saw  them,"  my  host  continued, 
"  the  two  women  seemed  as  friendly  as  sis 
ters,  and  Isaac  was  not  yet  born.  At  that 
time  it  was  considered,  of  course,  that  Ish 
mael  was  Abraham's  heir.  Certainly  he  was 
a  much  finer  man  than  Isaac,  with  whom  I 
became  acquainted  a  long  time  afterward. 
There  were  some  very  beautiful  women  at 
the  court  of  Solomon.  One  of  these  was 
Balkis,  the  famous  Queen  of  Sheba." 

"  Did  you  ever  meet  Cleopatra  ?  "  I  inter 
rupted. 

"  I  never  saw  her,"  was  the  answer,  "  but. 


WHEN    WE   LEFT   CORDOVA.'  " 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

from  what  I  have  heard,  I  do  not  think  I 
should  have  cared  for  her  if  I  had  seen  her 
asleep.  What  might  have  happened  had 
I  seen  her  awake  is  quite  another  matter.  I 
have  noticed  that  women  grow  more  beauti 
ful  as  the  world  grows  older,  and  men  grow 
taller  and  better  developed.  You  would 
consider  me,  I  think,  a  man  of  average  size ; 
but  I  tell  you  that  in  my  early  life  I  was  ex 
ceptionally  tall,  and  I  have  no  doubt  it  was 
my  stature  and  presence  to  which  I  largely 
owed  my  preferment  at  the  court  of  Alex 
ander.  I  was  living  in  Spain  toward  the 
close  of  the  tenth  century,  when  I  married 
the  daughter  of  an  Arabian  physician,  who 
was  a  wonderfully  beautiful  woman.  She 
was  not  dark,  like  the  ordinary  Moorish 
women.  In  feature  and  form  she  surpassed 
any  creation  of  the  Greek  sculptors,  and  I 
have  been  in  many  of  their  workshops,  and 
have  seen  their  models.  This  lady  lived 
longer  than  any  other  wife  I  had.  She  lived 
so  long,  in  fact,  that  when  we  left  Cordova 
we  both  thought  it  well  that  she  should  pass 
as  my  mother.  She  was  one  of  the  few 
wives  to  whom  I  told  my  story.  It  did  not 
53  ' 


THE  VIZIER   OF  THE 

shock  her,  for  she  believed  her  father  to  be  a 
miracle-worker,  and  she  had  faith  in  many 
strange  things.  Her  great  desire  was  to  live 
as  long  as  I  should,  and  I  think  she  believed 
that  this  might  happen.  She  died  at  the 
age  of  one  hundred  and  fifteen,  and  was 
lively  and  animated  to  the  very  last.  My 
first  American  wife  was  a  fine  woman,  too. 
She  was  a  French  creole,  and  died  fifteen 
years  ago.  We  had  no  children." 

"  It  strikes  me,"  I  said  suddenly,  "  that 
you  must  understand  a  great  many  lan 
guages —  you  speak  so  much  of  living  with 
people  of  different  nations." 

"  It  would  be  impossible,"  he  answered, 
"  unless  I  were  void  of  ordinary  intelligence, 
to  live  as  long  as  I  have,  and  not  become  a 
general  linguist.  Of  course  I  had  to  learn 
the  languages  of  the  countries  I  visited,  and 
as  I  was  always  a  student,  it  delighted  me 
to  do  so.  In  fact,  I  not  only  studied,  but  I 
wrote.  When  the  Alexandrian  library  was 
destroyed,  fourteen  of  my  books  were  burned. 
When  I  was  in  Italy  with  my  first  American 
wife,  I  visited  the  museum  at  Naples,  and 
in  the  room  where  the  experts  were  unroll- 
54 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

ing  the  papyri  found  in  Pompeii,  I  looked 
over  the  shoulder  of  one  of  them,  and,  to  my 
amazement,  found  that  one  of  the  rolls  was 
an  account-book  of  my  own.  I  had  been 
a  broker  in  Pompeii,  and  these  were  the 
records  of  moneys  I  had  loaned,  on  interest, 
to  various  merchants  and  tradespeople.  I 
was  always  fond  of  dealing  in  money,  and  at 
present  I  am  a  broker  in  Wall  street.  Dur 
ing  the  first  crusades  I  was  a  banker  in  Genoa, 
and  lent  large  sums  to  the  noble  knights 
who  were  setting  forth  for  Jerusalem." 

"  Was  much  of  it  repaid  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  Most  of  it  The  loans  were  almost  always 
secured  by  good  property.  As  I  look  back 
upon  the  vast  panorama  of  my  life,"  my  host 
continued,  after  a  pause,  "  I  most  pleasantly 
recall  my  various  intimacies  with  learned 
men,  and  my  own  studies  and  researches ; 
but  in  the  great  company  of  men  of  know 
ledge  whom  I  have  known,  there  was  not 
one  in  whom  I  was  so  much  interested  as  in 
King  Solomon.  I  visited  his  court  because 
I  greatly  wished  to  know  a  man  who  knew 
so  much.  It  was  not  difficult  to  obtain  ac 
cess  to  him,  for  I  came  as  a  stranger  from 
55 


THE  VIZIER  OF  THE 

Ethiopia,  to  the  east  of  the  Red  Sea,  and  the 
king  was  always  anxious  to  see  intelligent 
people  from  foreign  parts.  I  was  able  to  tell 
him  a  good  deal  which  he  did  not  know,  and 
he  became  fond  of  my  society. 

"  I  found  Solomon  a  very  well-informed 
man.  He  had  not  read  and  studied  books  as 
much  as  I  had,  and  he  had  not  had  my  ad 
vantages  of  direct  intercourse  with  learned 
men;  but  he  was  a  most  earnest  and  inde 
fatigable  student  of  nature.  I  believe  he 
knew  more  about  natural  history  than  any 
human  being  then  living,  or  who  had  pre 
ceded  him.  Whenever  it  was  possible  for 
him  to  do  so,  he  studied  animal  nature  from 
the  living  model,  and  all  the  beasts,  birds, 
and  fishes  which  it  was  possible  for  him  to 
obtain  alive  were  quartered  in  the  grounds 
of  his  palace.  In  a  certain  way  he  was  an 
animal-tamer.  You  may  well  imagine  that 
this  great  king's  wonderful  possessions,  as 
well  as  the  man  himself,  were  the  source  of 
continual  delight  to  me. 

"  The  time-honored  story  of  Solomon's 
carpet  on  which  he  mounted  and  was  wafted 
away  to  any  place,  with  his  retinue,  had  a 
56 


"'  1    HAD    BEEN    A    BROKER    IN    POMPEII.'" 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

good  deal  of  foundation  in  fact ;  for  Solomon 
was  an  exceedingly  ingenious  man,  and  not 
only  constructed  parachutes  by  which  people 
could  safely  descend  from  great  heights,  but 
he  made  some  attempts  in  the  direction  of 
ballooning.  I  have  seen  small  bags  of  thin 
silk,  covered  with  a  fine  varnish  made  of 
gum  to  render  them  air-tight,  which,  being 
inflated  with  hot  air  and  properly  ballasted, 
rose  high  above  the  earth,  and  were  wafted 
out  of  sight  by  the  wind.  Many  people  sup 
posed  that  in  the  course  of  time  Solomon 
would  be  able  to  travel  through  the  air,  and 
from  this  idea  was  derived  the  tradition  that 
he  really  did  so. 

"Another  of  the  interesting  legends  re 
garding  King  Solomon  concerned  his  domin 
ion  over  the  Jinns.  These  people,  of  whom  so 
much  has  been  written  and  handed  down  by 
word  of  mouth,  and  who  were  supposed  by 
subsequent  generations  to  be  a  race  of  ser 
vile  demons,  were,  in  reality,  savage  natives 
of  surrounding  countries,  who  were  forced 
by  the  king  to  work  on  his  great  buildings 
and  other  enterprises,  and  who  occupied  very 
much  the  position  of  the  coolies  of  the  pres- 
59 


THE  VIZIER  OF  THE 

ent  day.  But  that  story  of  the  dead  Solomon 
and  the  Jinns  who  were  at  work  on  the  temple 
gives  a  good  idea  of  one  of  the  most  impor 
tant  characteristics  of  this  great  ruler.  He 
was  a  man  who  gave  personal  attention  to  all 
his  affairs,  and  was  in  the  habit  of  overseeing 
the  laborers  on  his  public  works.  Do  you 
remember  the  story  to  which  I  refer?" 

I  was  obliged  to  say  that  I  did  not  think 
I  had  ever  heard  it. 

"  The  story  runs  thus,"  said  my  host  : 
"  The  Jinns  were  at  work  building  the  tem 
ple,  and  Solomon,  according  to  his  custom, 
overlooked  them  daily.  At  the  time  when 
the  temple  was  nearly  completed  Solomon 
felt  that  his  strength  was  passing  from  him, 
and  that  he  would  not  have  much  longer  to 
live.  This  greatly  troubled  him,  for  he  knew 
that  when  the  Jinns  should  find  that  his 
watchful  eye  would  be  no  more  upon  them, 
they  would  rebel  and  refuse  to  work,  and  the 
temple  would  not  be  finished  during  his 
reign.  Therefore,  as  the  story  runs,  he 
came,  one  day,  into  the  temple,  and  hoped 
that  he  might  be  enabled  to  remain  there 
until  the  great  edifice  should  be  finished. 
60 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

He  stood  leaning  on  his  staff,  and  the  Jinns, 
when  they  beheld  their  master,  continued  to 
work,  and  work,  and  work.  When  night 
came  Solomon  still  remained  standing  in  his 
accustomed  place,  and  the  Jinns  worked  on, 
afraid  to  cease  their  toil  for  a  moment. 

"Standing  thus,  Solomon  died;  but  the 
Jinns  did  not  know  it,  and  their  toil  and 
labor  continued,  by  night  and  by  day.  Now, 
according  to  the  tradition,  a  little  white  ant, 
one  of  the  kind  which  devours  wood,  came 
up  out  of  the  earth  on  the  very  day  on  which 
Solomon  died,  and  began  to  gnaw  the  inside 
of  his  staff.  She  gnawed  a  little  every  day, 
until  at  last  the  staff  became  hollow  from  one 
end  to  the  other ;  and  on  the  day  when  she 
finished  her  work,  the  work  of  the  Jinns  was 
also  finished.  Then  the  staff  crumbled,  and 
the  dead  Solomon  fell,  face  foremost,  to  the 
earth.  The  Jinns,  perceiving  that  they  had 
been  slaving  day  and  night  for  a  master  who 
was  dead,  fled  away  with  yells  of  rage  and 
vexation.  But  the  glorious  temple  was  fin 
ished,  and  King  Solomon's  work  was  done. 
Tabari  tells  this  story,  and  it  is  also  found  in 
the  Koran ;  but  the  origin  of  it  was  nothing 
61 


THE  VIZIER  OF  THE 

more  than  the  well-known  custom  of  Solo 
mon  to  exercise  personal  supervision  over 
those  who  were  working  for  him. 

"  I  was  the  person  from  whom  Solomon 
first  heard  of  the  Queen  of  Sheba.  I  had 
lived  in  her  capital  city  for  several  years,  and 
she  had  summoned  me  before  her,  and  had 
inquired  about  the  places  I  had  visited  and 
the  things  I  had  seen.  What  I  said  about 
this  wonderful  woman  and  the  admirable 
administration  of  her  empire  interested  Solo 
mon  very  much,  and  he  was  never  tired  of 
hearing  me  talk  about  her.  At  one  time  I 
believe  he  thought  of  sending  me  as  an  am 
bassador  to  her,  but  afterward  gave  up  this 
notion,  as  I  did  not  possess  the  rank  or  po 
sition  which  would  have  qualified  me  to 
represent  him  and  his  court;  so  he  sent  a 
suitable  delegation,  and,  after  a  great  deal 
of  negotiation  and  diplomatic  by-play,  the 
queen  actually  determined  to  come  to  see 
Solomon.  Soon  after  her  arrival  with  her 
great  retinue,  she  saw  me,  and  immediately 
recognized  me,  and  the  first  thing  she  said 
to  me  was  that  she  perceived  I  had  grown  a 
good  deal  older  than  when  I  had  been  living 
62 


SOLOMON    AND    THE   JINNS. 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

in  her  domains.  This  delighted  me,  for  be 
fore  coming  to  Jerusalem  I  had  allowed  my 
hair  and  beard  to  grow,  and  had  dispensed 
with  as  much  as  possible  of  my  ordinary 
erect  mien  and  lightness  of  step ;  for  I  was 
very  much  afraid,  if  I  were  not  careful,  that 
the  wise  king  would  find  out  that  there  was 
something  irregular  in  my  longevity,  and  an 
old  man  may  continue  to  look  old  much 
longer  than  a  middle-aged  man  can  continue 
to  appear  middle-aged. 

"  It  was  a  great  advantage  to  me  to  find 
myself  admitted  to  a  certain  intimacy  with 
both  the  king  and  his  visitor  the  queen,  As 
I  was  a  subject  of  neither  of  them,  they 
seemed  to  think  this  circumstance  allowed 
a  little  more  familiarity  than  otherwise  they 
would  have  shown.  Besides,  my  age  had  a 
great  deal  to  do  with  the  freedom  with  which 
they  spoke  to  me.  Each  of  them  seemed 
anxious  to  know  everything  I  could  tell 
about  the  other,  and  I  would  sometimes  be 
subjected  to  embarrassing  questions. 

"  There  is  a  great  deal  of  extravagance 
and  perversion  in  the  historical  and  tradi 
tional  accounts  of  the  tricks  which  these  two 
65 


THE  VIZIER  OF  THE 

royal  personages  played  upon  each  other. 
Most  of  these  old  stories  are  too  silly  to  re 
peat,  but  some  of  them  had  foundation  in 
fact.  They  tell  a  tale  of  how  the  queen  set 
five  hundred  boys  and  five  hundred  girls  be 
fore  the  king,  all  the  girls  dressed  as  boys 
and  all  the  boys  dressed  as  girls,  and  then 
she  asked  him,  as  he  was  such  a  wise  man, 
immediately  to  distinguish  those  of  one  sex 
from  those  of  the  other.  Solomon  did  not 
hesitate  a  moment,  but  ordering  basins  of 
water  to  be  brought,  he  commanded  the 
young  people  to  wash  their  hands.  There 
upon  he  watched  them  closely,  and  as  the 
boys  washed  only  their  hands,  while  the  girls 
rolled  up  their  sleeves  and  washed  their  arms 
as  well  as  their  hands,  Solomon  was  able, 
without  any  trouble,  to  pick  out  the  one 
from  the  other.  Now,  something  of  this 
kind  really  happened,  but  there  were  only 
ten  boys  and  ten  girls.  But  in  the  course 
of  ages  the  story  grew,  and  the  whole  thing 
was  made  absurd ;  for  there  never  was  a  king 
in  the  world,  nor  would  there  be  likely  to 
be  one,  who  could  have  a  thousand  basins 
ready  immediately  to  put  before  a  company 
66 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

who  wished  to  wash  their  hands.  But  the 
result  of  this  scheme  convinced  the  queen 
that  Solomon  was  a  man  of  the  deepest 
insight  into  the  manners  and  customs  of 
human  beings,  as  well  as  those  of  animals, 
birds,  and  fishes. 

"  But  there  is  an  incident  with  which  I 
was  personally  connected  which  was  known 
at  the  time  to  very  few  people,  and  was 
never  publicly  related.  The  beautiful  queen 
desired,  above  all  other  things,  to  know 
whether  Solomon  held  her  in  such  high 
esteem  because  she  was  a  mighty  queen,  or 
on  account  of  her  personal  attractions ;  and 
in  order  to  discover  the  truth  in  regard  to 
this  question,  she  devised  a  little  scheme  to 
which  she  made  me  a  party.  There  was  a 
young  woman  in  her  train,  of  surpassing 
beauty,  whose  name  was  Liridi,  and  the 
queen  was  sure  that  Solomon  had  never  seen 
her,  for  it  was  her  custom  to  keep  her  most 
beautiful  attendants  in  the  background. 
This  maiden  the  queen  caused  to  be  dressed 
in  the  richest  and  most  becoming  robes,  and 
adorned  her,  besides,  with  jewels  and  golden 
ornaments,  which  set  off  her  beauty  in  an 
4  67 


THE  VIZIER  OF   THE 

amazing  manner.  Then,  having  made  many 
inquiries  of  me  in  regard  to  the  habits  of 
Solomon,  she  ordered  Liridi  to  walk  alone  in 
one  of  the  broad  paths  of  the  royal  gardens 
at  the  time  when  the  king  was  wont  to  stroll 
there  by  himself.  The  queen  wished  to  find 
out  whether  this  charming  apparition  would 
cause  the  king  to  forget  her  for  a  time,  and 
she  ordered  me  to  be  in  the  garden,  and  so 
arrange  my  rambles  that  I  could,  without 
being  observed,  notice  what  happened  when 
the  king  should  meet  Liridi.  I  was  on  hand 
before  the  appointed  time,  and  when  I  saw 
the  girl  walking  slowly  up  the  shaded  avenue, 
I  felt  obliged  to  go  to  her  and  tell  her  that 
she  was  too  soon,  and  that  she  must  not  meet 
Solomon  near  the  palace.  As  I  spoke  to  her 
I  was  amazed  at  her  wonderful  beauty,  and 
I  did  not  believe  it  possible  that  the  king 
could  gaze  upon  her  without  such  emotion 
as  would  make  him  forget  for  the  moment 
every  other  woman  in  the  world. 

"  The  queen  had  purposely  made  an  ap 
pointment  with  him  for  the  same  hour,  so  that 
if  he  did  not  come  she  would  know  what  was 
detaining  him.  At  length  Solomon  appeared 
68 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

at  the  far  end  of  the  avenue,  and  Liridi  began 
again  her  pensive  stroll.  When  the  king 
reached  her,  she  retired  to  one  side,  her  head 
bowed,  as  if  she  had  not  expected  to  meet 
royalty  in  this  secluded  spot.  King  Solomon 
was  deep  in  thought  as  he  walked,  but  when 
he  came  near  the  maiden,  he  raised  his  eyes 
and  suddenly  stopped.  I  was  near  by,  behind 
some  shrubbery,  and  it  was  plain  enough  to 
me  that  he  was  dazzled  by  this  lovely  appari 
tion.  He  asked  her  who  she  was,  and  when 
she  had  told  him  he  gazed  at  her  with  still 
greater  attention.  Then  suddenly  he  laughed 
aloud.  '  Go  tell  the  queen/  said  he,  '  that  she 
hath  missed  her  mark.  The  arrow  which  is 
adorned  with  golden  trappings  and  precious 
stones  cannot  fly  aright.'  Then  he  went  on, 
still  laughing  to  himself.  In  the  evening  he 
told  me  about  this  incident,  and  said  that  if 
the  maiden  had  been  arrayed  in  the  simple 
robes  which  became  her  station  he  would 
have  suspected  nothing,  and  would  probably 
have  stopped  to  converse  with  her  so  long 
that  he  would  have  failed  to  keep  his  ap 
pointment  with  his  royal  guest. 

"  The  queen  was  very  much  annoyed  at  the 
69 


THE   VIZIER  OF  THE 

ill  success  of  her  little  artifice,  but  it  was  not 
long  after  this  that  she  and  the  king  discov 
ered  their  true  feeling  for  each  other,  and 
they  were  soon  married.  The  wedding  was 
a  grand  one — grander  than  tradition  relates, 
grander  than  the  modern  mind  can  easily 
comprehend.  When  they  went  to  the  palace 
to  sit  for  the  first  time  in  state  before  the 
vast  assembly  of  dignitaries  and  courtiers, 
the  queen  found,  beside  the  throne  of  Solo 
mon,  her  own  throne,  which  he  had  caused 
to  be  brought  from  Sheba  in  time  for  this 
occasion.  This  incident,  I  think,  affected 
her  more  agreeably  than  anything  else  that 
happened.  Great  were  the  festivities.  Hon 
ors  and  dignities  were  bestowed  on  every 
hand,  and  I  might  have  come  in  for  some 
substantial  benefit  had  it  not  been  that  I 
committed  a  great  blunder.  I  had  fallen  in 
love  with  the  beautiful  Liridi,  and  as  the 
queen  seemed  so  gracious  and  kind  to  every 
body,  I  made  bold  to  go  to  her  and  ask  that 
she  would  allow  me  to  marry  her  charming 
handmaiden.  But,  to  my  surprise,  this  re 
quest  angered  the  queen.  She  told  me  that 
such  an  old  man  as  myself  ought  to  be 
70 


"  '  GO   TELL  THE   QUEEN.' 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

ashamed  to  take  a  young  girl  to  wife ;  that 
she  was  opposed  to  such  marriages ;  and  that, 
in  fact,  I  ought  to  be  punished  for  even 
mentioning  the  subject. 

"  I  retired  in  disgrace,  and  very  soon  after 
ward  I  left  Jerusalem,  for  I  have  found,  by 
varied  experiences,  that  the  displeasure  of 
rulers  is  an  unhealthful  atmosphere  in  which 
to  live.  However,  the  Queen  of  Sheba  did 
not  get  altogether  the  better  of  me.  As  you 
know,  King  Solomon  and  his  royal  wife  did 
not  reign  together  very  long.  They  ruled 
over  two  great  kingdoms,  each  of  which 
required  the  presence  of  its  sovereign;  so 
Queen  Balkis  soon  went  back  to  Sheba  with 
more  wealth,  more  soldiers,  more  camels, 
horses,  and  grand  surroundings  of  every 
kind,  than  she  had  brought  with  her.  She 
carried  in  her  baggage-train  her  royal  throne, 
but  she  did  not  take  with  her  the  beautiful 
Liridi.  That  lady  had  been  given  in  mar 
riage  to  an  officer  in  Solomon's  army,  and 
thirty  years  afterward,  in  the  land  of  Asshur, 
where  her  father  was  stationed,  I  married 
the  youngest  daughter  of  Liridi.  The  latter 
was  then  dead,  but  my  wife,  with  whom  I 
73 


THE  VIZIER  OF  THE 

lived  happily  for  many  years  in  Phenicia,  was 
quite  as  beautiful.  I  was  greatly  inclined,  at 
the  time,  to  send  a  courier  with  a  letter  to 
the  Queen  of  Sheba,  informing  her  of  what 
had  happened;  but  I  was  afraid.  She  was 
then  an  elderly  woman,  and  I  was  informed 
that  age  had  actually  sharpened  her  wits,  so 
that  if  I  had  incensed  her  and  given  her  rea 
son  to  suspect  the  truth  about  my  unnatural 
age,  I  believe  there  was  no  known  country  in 
which  I  could  have  concealed  myself  from 
her  emissaries. 

"  There  are  many,  many  incidents  which 
crowd  upon  my  memory,"  continued  my 
host,  "  but  -  "  and  as  he  spoke  he  pulled  out 
his  watch.  "  My  conscience  !  "  he  exclaimed, 
"  it  is  twenty  minutes  past  three  !  I  should 
be  ashamed  of  myself,  Mr.  Randolph,  for 
having  kept  you  up  so  long." 

We  both  rose  to  our  feet,  and  I  was  about 
to  say  something  polite,  suited  to  the  occa 
sion,  but  he  gave  me  no  chance. 

"  I  felt  I  must  talk  to  you,"  he  said,  speak 
ing  very  rapidly.  "  I  have  discovered  you  to 
be  a  man  of  appreciation — a  man  who  should 
hear  my  story.  I  have  felt  for  some  years, 
74 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

that  it  would  soon  become  impossible  for  me 
to  conceal  my  experiences  from  my  fellow- 
men.  I  believe  mankind  has  now  reached 
a  stage  of  enlightenment  —  at  least,  in  this 
country — when  the  person  who  makes  strange 
discoveries  which  cannot  be  explained,  and 
the  person  who  announces  facts  which  can 
not  be  comprehended  by  the  human  mind, 
need  not  fear  to  be  punished  as  a  sorcerer, 
or  thrust  into  a  cell  as  a  lunatic.  I  may  be 
mistaken  in  regard  to  this  latter  point,  but 
I  think  I  am  right.  In  any  case,  I  do  not 
wish  to  live  much  longer  as  I  have  been  liv 
ing.  As  I  must  live  on,  with  generation 
after  generation  rising  up  about  me,  I  want 
those  generations  to  know  before  they  de 
part  from  this  earth  that  I  am  a  person  who 
does  not  die.  I  am  tired  of  deceptions ;  I 
am  tired  of  leaving  the  places  where  I  have 
lived  long  and  am  known,  and  arriving  in 
other  places  where  I  am  a  stranger,  and  where 
I  must  begin  my  life  again. 

"  I  do  not  wish  to  be  in  a  hurry  to  make 

my  revelations  to  the  world  at  large.     I  do 

not  wish  to  startle  people  without  being  able 

to  show  them  proof  of  what  I  say.     I  wish  to 

75 


THE  VIZIER   OF  THE 

speak  only  to  persons  who  are  worthy  to  hear 
my  story,  and  I  have  begun  with  you.  I  do 
not  want  you  to  believe  me  until  you  are  quite 
ready  to  do  so.  Think  over  what  I  have 
said,  consider  it  carefully,  and  make  up  your 
mind  slowly. 

"  You  are  a  young  man  in  good  health, 
and  you  will,  in  all  probability,  live  long 
enough  to  assure  yourself  of  the  truth  or 
falsity  of  what  I  have  told  you  about  my  in 
definite  longevity.  I  should  be  glad  to  re 
late  my  story  to  scientific  men,  to  physicians, 
to  students ;  but,  as  I  have  said,  we  shall  wait 
for  that.  In  the  meantime,  you  may,  if  you 
choose,  write  down  what  I  have  told  you,  or 
as  much  of  it  as  you  remember.  I  have  no 
written  records  of  my  past  life.  Long,  long 
ago  I  made  such,  but  I  destroyed  them,  for 
I  knew  not  what  evil  they  might  bring  upon 
me  were  they  discovered.  But  you  may  write 
the  little  I  have  told  you,  and  when  you  feel 
that  the  time  has  come,  you  may  give  it  to  the 
world.  And  now  we  must  retire.  It  is  wicked 
to  keep  you  out  of  your  bed  any  longer." 

"One  word/'  said   I.     "Do   you   intend 
now  to  tell  your  wife  ?  " 
76 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

"  Yes,"  he  answered,  "  I  shall  tell  her  to 
morrow.  Having  reposed  confidence  in  you, 
it  would  be  treating  her  shamefully  if  I 
should  withhold  that  confidence  from  her. 
She  has  often  said  to  me  that  I  do  not  look 
a  day  older  than  when  I  married  her.  I  want 
her  now  to  know  that  I  need  never  look  a 
day  older;  I  shall  counterfeit  old  age  no 
more." 

I  did  not  sleep  well  during  what  was  left 
of  the  night,  for  my  mind  went  traveling 
backward  and  forward  through  the  ages. 
The  next  morning,  at  breakfast,  Mr.  Crow- 
der  appeared  in  his  ordinary  good  spirits,  but 
his  wife  was  very  quiet.  She  was  pale,  and 
occasionally  I  thought  I  saw  signs  of  trouble 
on  her  usually  placid  brow.  I  felt  sure  that 
he  had  told  her  his  story.  As  I  looked  at  her, 
I  could  not  prevent  myself  from  seriously 
wondering  that  a  man  who  had  seen  Abra 
ham  and  Sarah,  and  had  been  personally 
acquainted  with  the  Queen  of  Sheba,  should 
now  be  married  to  a  Quaker  lady  from  North 
Sixteenth  street,  Philadelphia.  After  break 
fast  she  found  an  opportunity  of  speaking  to 
me  privately. 

77 


THE  VIZIER  OF  ALEXANDER 

"Do  you  believe,"  she  asked  very  hur 
riedly,  "  what  my  husband  told  you  last  night 
—  the  story  of  his  earthly  immortality  ?  " 

"  I  really  do  not  know,"  I  answered, 
"  whether  I  believe  it  or  not.  My  reason 
assures  me  that  it  is  impossible;  and  yet 
there  is  in  Mr.  Crowder's  manner  so  much 
sincerity,  so  much- 

Contrary  to  her  usual  habits,  I  am  sure, 
she  interrupted  me. 

''  Excuse  me,"  she  said,  "  but  I  must  speak 
while  I  have  the  chance.  You  must  believe 
what  my  husband  has  said  to  you.  He  has 
told  me  everything,  and  I  know  that  it  is  im 
possible  for  him  to  tell  a  lie.  I  have  not  yet 
arranged  my  ideas  in  regard  to  this  wonder 
ful  revelation,  but  I  believe.  If  the  time 
should  ever  come  when  I  shall  know  I  should 
not  believe,  that  will  be  another  matter.  But 
he  is  my  husband.  I  know  him,  I  trust  him. 
Will  you  not  do  the  same  ?  " 

"I  will  do  it,"  I  exclaimed,  "until  the 
time  comes  when  I  shall  know  that  I  can 
not  possibly  do  so." 

She  gave  me  her  hand,  and  I  shook  it 
heartily. 

78 


"SHE  GAVE  ME  HER  HAND,  AND  I  SHOOK  IT  HEARTILY." 


Ill 


|BOUT  four  months  after  my  first 
acquaintance  with  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Crowder,  I  found  myself  again  in 
New  York;  and  when  I  called 
at  the  house  of  my  friends,  I  received  from 
them  a  most  earnest  invitation  to  take  up 
my  abode  with  them  during  my  stay  in  the 
city. 

Of  course  this  invitation  was  eagerly  ac 
cepted  ;  for  not  only  was  the  Crowder  house 
a  home  of  the  most  charming  hospitality,  but 
my  interest  in  the  extraordinary  man  who 
was  evidently  so  glad  to  be  my  host  was  such 
that  not  one  day  had  passed  since  I  last  saw 
him  in  which  I  did  not  think  of  him,  and 
consider  his  marvelous  statements  from  every 
point  of  view  which  my  judgment  was  capa 
ble  of  commanding.  I  found  Mr.  Crowder 
unchanged  in  appearance  and  manner,  and 
81 


THE   VIZIER  OF   THE 

his  wife  was  the  same  charming  young  woman 
I  had  known.  But  there  was  nothing  surpris 
ing  in  this.  People  generally  do  not  change 
very  much  in  four  months ;  and  yet,  in  talk 
ing  to  Mr.  Crowder,  I  could  not  prevent 
myself  from  earnestly  scanning  his  features 
to  see  if  he  had  grown  any  older. 

He  noticed  this,  and  laughed  heartily. 
"  It  is  natural  enough,"  he  said,  "  that  you 
should  wish  to  assure  yourself  that  there  is 
a  good  foundation  to  your  belief  in  what  I 
have  told  you;  but  you  are  in  too  great  a 
hurry :  you  must  wait  some  years  for  that 
sort  of  proof,  one  way  or  the  other.  But  I 
believe  that  you  do  believe  in  me,  and  I  am 
not  in  the  least  disturbed  by  the  way  you 
look  at  me." 

After  dinner,  on  the  first  day  of  my  visit, 
when  we  were  smoking  together,  I  asked 
Mr.  Crowder  if  he  would  not  continue  the 
recital  of  his  experiences,  which  were  of  such 
absorbing  interest  to  me  that  sometimes  I 
found  them  occupying  my  mind  to  an  extent 
which  excluded  the  consideration  of  every 
thing  relating  to  myself  and  the  present  time. 

"  From  one  point  of  view,"  he  said,  "  that 
62 


TWO-HORNED   ALEXANDER 

would  be  a  bad  thing  for  you :  but  I  don't 
look  at  it  in  that  way ;  in  fact,  I  hope  you 
may  become  my  biographer.  I  will  furnish 
you  with  material  enough,  and  you  can  ar 
range  it  and  put  it  in  shape;  that  is,  if,  in  the 
course  of  a  few  years,  you  consider  that,  in 
doing  what  I  ask  of  you,  you  will  be  writing 
the  true  life  of  a  man,  and  not  a  collection 
of  fanciful  stories.  So  I  hope  you  may  find 
that  you  have  not  lost  your  time  when  think 
ing  so  much  of  a  man  of  the  past." 

Now,  there  is  no  doubt  that  I  did  most 
thoroughly  believe  in  Crowder.  I  had  ar 
gued  with  myself  against  this  belief  to  the 
utmost  extent  of  my  ability,  and  I  had  now 
given  up  the  effort.  If  I  should  disbelieve 
him  I  would  deprive  myself  of  one  of  the 
most  precious  privileges  of  my  existence,  and 
I  did  not  intend  to  do  so  until  I  found  my 
self  absolutely  forced  to  admit  that  I  was 
mistaken.  Time  would  settle  all  this,  and 
all  that  I  had  to  do  now  was  to  listen,  enjoy, 
and  be  thankful  for  the  opportunity. 

"  I  am  not  going  to  tell  any  stories  now," 
he  said,  "  for  my  wife  has  not  overcome  her 
dislike  to  tobacco  smoke,  and  she  has  in- 
83 


THE  VIZIER  OF  THE 

sisted  that  she  shall  be  one  of  my  hearers 
when  I  tell  stories  of  my  past  life  to  you ; 
but  I  can  tell  you  this,  my  friend :  she  will 
believe  every  word  I  say;  there  can  be  no 
possible  doubt  of  that.  I  have  told  her  a 
good  many  things  since  I  saw  you  last,  and 
her  faith  in  me  is  a  joy  unspeakable." 

Of  course  I  was  delighted  to  hear  that 
this  charming  lady  was  to  be  my  fellow- 
auditor,  and  said  so. 

"  I  often  think  of  you  two,"  said  Mr. 
Crowder,  contemplatively  leaning  back  in 
his  arm-chair.  "  I  think  of  you  together, 
but  I  am  bound  to  say  that  the  thought  is 
not  altogether  pleasant."  I  showed  my 
amazement  at  this  remark.  "It  can't  be 
helped,"  he  said ;  "  it  can't  be  helped.  It  's 
one  of  the  things  I  have  to  suffer.  I  have 
suffered  it  over  and  over  again  thousands  of 
times,  but  I  never  get  used  to  it.  Here  you 
are,  two  young  people,  young  enough  to  be 
my  children:  one  is  my  wife;  the  other,  I 
am  proud  to  say,  my  best  friend.  You  are 
the  only  persons  in  the  world  who  know 
my  story.  You  have  faith  in  me,  and  the 
thought  of  that  faith  is  the  greatest  pleasure 
84 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

of  my  life.  Year  by  year  you  two  will 
grow  older;  year  by  year  you  will  more 
nearly  approach  my  own  age,  and  become, 
according  to  the  ordinary  opinion  of  the 
world,  more  suitable  companions  for  me. 
Then  you  will  reach  my  age.  We  shall  be 
three  gray-haired  friends.  Then  will  come 
the  saddening  time,  the  mournful  days. 
You  two  will  grow  older  and  older,  and  I 
shall  remain  where  I  am  —  always  fifty- 
three.  Then  you  will  grow  to  be  elderly  — 
elderly  people ;  at  last,  aged  people.  If  you 
live  long  enough  I  shall  look  up  to  you  as  I 
would  to  my  parents." 

This  was  a  state  of  things  I  had  never  con 
templated.  I  could  scarcely  appreciate  it. 

"  Of  course,"  he  continued,  "  I  wish  you 
both  to  live  long;  but  don't  you  see  how  it 
affects  me  ?  But  enough  of  that.  Here 
comes  Mrs.  Crowder,  and  with  her  all  sub 
jects  must  be  pleasant  ones." 

"  I  think  thee  must  buy  some  short  cigars," 
she  said,  just  putting  her  head  inside  the 
door,  "  to  smoke  after  dinner.  If  large  ones 
are  necessary,  they  can  be  smoked  after  I  go 
to  bed.  I  am  getting  very  impatient;  for 
85 


THE  VIZIER  OF  THE 

now  that  Mr.  Randolph  is  here,  I  believe 
that  thee  is  going  to  be  unusually  inter 
esting." 

We  arose  immediately,  and  joined  Mrs. 
Crowder  in  the  library. 

This  lady's  use  of  the  plain  speech  cus 
tomary  with  Quakers  was  very  pleasant  to 
me.  I  had  had  but  little  acquaintance  with 
it,  and  at  first  its  independence  of  grammat 
ical  rules  struck  upon  me  unpleasantly ;  but 
I  soon  began  to  enjoy  Mrs.  Crowder's  speech, 
when  she  was  addressing  her  husband,  much 
more  than  I  did  the  remarks  she  made  to  me, 
the  latter  being  always  couched  in  the  most 
correct  English.  There  was  a  sweetness 
about  her  "  thee  "  which  had  the  quality  of 
gentle  music ;  and  when  she  used  the  word 
"thy"  it  was  pronounced  so  much  like 
"  thee "  that  I  could  scarcely  perceive  the 
difference.  To  her  husband  and  child  she 
always  used  the  Quaker  speech  of  the  pres 
ent  day;  and  as  I  did  not  like  being  set 
aside  in  this  way,  I  said  to  her  that  I  hoped 
there  was  no  rule  of  the  Society  of  Friends 
which  would  compel  her  to  make  a  change 
in  her  form  of  speech  when  she  addressed 
86 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

me.  "If  thee  likes,"  she  said,  with  a  smile, 
"  thee  is  welcome  to  all  the  plain  speech  thee 
wants."  And  after  that,  when  she  spoke  to 
me,  she  did  not  turn  me  out  among  the 
world's  people. 

"Now,  you  know,"  said  Mr.  Crowder, 
"  that  I  'm  not  going  to  play  the  part  of  an 
historian.  That  sort  of  discourse  would 
bore  me,  and  it  would  bore  you.  If  there  is 
any  kind  of  thing  that  you  would  like  to 
hear  about,  all  you  have  to  do  is  to  ask  me ; 
and  if  you  don't  care  to  do  this,  I  will  tell 
you  whatever  comes  up  in  my  memory, 
without  any  regard  to  chronology  or  geog 
raphy,  just  as  I  talked  to  you  before.  If  I 
were  to  begin  at  the  beginning  and  go 
straight  along,  even  if  I  skipped  ever  so 
much,  the  story  would  —  it  would  be  a  great 
deal  too  long." 

I  am  sure  that  Mrs.  Crowder  and  I  both 
felt  what  he  did  not  wish  to  say  —  that  we 
were  not  likely  to  live  to  hear  it  all. 

"  There  are  a  great  many  things  I  should 
like  to  ask  thee,"  said  Mrs.  Crowder,  speak 
ing  quickly,  as  if  to  change  the  subject  of 
her  thoughts ;  "  but  I  believe  I  have  forgot- 
s  87 


THE  VIZIER  OF  THE 

ten  most  of  them.  But  here  is  something  I 
should  like  to  know  —  that  is,"  she  said, 
turning  to  me,  "  if  thee  has  n't  anything  in 
thy  mind  which  thee  wishes  to  ask  about  *? " 

I  noticed  that  she  pronounced  "  thy  "  very 
distinctly,  a  little  bit  of  grammatical  con 
science  probably  obtruding  itself.  Of  course 
I  had  nothing  to  ask,  and  she  put  her  ques 
tion  :  "  What  did  thee  do  in  the  dark 
ages  ?  " 

Crowder  laughed.  "  That  is  a  big  ques 
tion,"  said  he,  "and  the  only  answer  I  can 
give  you  in  a  general  way  is  that  there  were 
so  many  things  that  I  was  not  able  to  do,  or 
did  not  dare  to  do,  that  I  look  upon  those 
centuries  as  the  most  disagreeable  part  of 
my  whole  life.  But  you  must  not  suppose 
that  everybody  felt  as  I  did.  A  great  many 
of  the  people  by  whom  I  was  surrounded  at 
that  doleful  period  appeared  to  be  happier 
and  better  satisfied  with  their  circumstances 
than  any  I  have  known  before  or  after. 
There  was  little  ambition,  less  responsibility ; 
and  if  the  poor  and  weak  suffered  from  the 
rapacity  and  violence  of  the  rich  and  strong, 
they  accepted  their  misfortunes  as  if  they 
88 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

were  something  they  were  bound  to  expect, 
such  as  bad  weather.  I  am  not  going  to 
talk  history,  and  there  is  one  thing  that  your 
question  reminds  me  of.  During  that  por 
tion  of  the  middle  ages  which  is  designated 
as  dark,  I  employed  myself  in  a  great  many 
different  ways  :  I  was  laborer,  sailor,  teacher, 
and  I  cannot  tell  you  what  besides;  but 
more  frequently  than  anything  else  I  was  a 
teacher." 

"  Thee  must  have  been  an  angel  of  light," 
Mrs.  Crowder  remarked. 

"  No,"  said  he ;  "  an  angel  of  light  would 
have  been  very  conspicuous  in  those  days. 
I  did  n't  pose  for  such  a  part.  In  fact,  if  I 
had  not  succeeded  in  appearing  like  a  par 
tial  ignoramus  I  should  have  been  obliged 
to  go  into  a  monastery,  for  in  those  days  the 
monks  were  the  only  people  who  knew  any 
thing.  They  expected  to  do  all  the  teach 
ing  that  was  done;  but,  for  all  that,  a  few 
scholars  cropped  up  now  and  then,  and  here 
and  there,  who  did  not  care  to  have  monks 
for  masters;  and  by  instructing  these  in  a 
very  modest,  quiet  way  I  frequently  man 
aged  to  make  a  living." 
89 


THE  VIZIER   OF  THE 

"I  should  think,"  I  said,  "that  at  any 
time  and  in  any  period  you  would  have  been 
a  person  of  importance,  with  your  experi 
ence  and  knowledge  of  men." 

Mr.  Crowder  shook  his  head.  "No," 
said  he ;  "  not  so.  To  make  myself  of  im 
portance  in  that  time  I  must  have  been  a 
soldier,  and  the  profession  of  arms,  you  know, 
is  one  I  have  always  avoided.  A  man  who 
cannot  be  killed  should  take  care  that  he  be 
not  wounded." 

"  I  am  so  glad  that  thee  did  take  care," 
ejaculated  Mrs.  Crowder;  "but  even  I  can 
not  see  how  thee  kept  out  of  fighting  in 
those  disorderly  times." 

"  I  did  not  keep  out  of  it  altogether,  but 
in  every  possible  way  I  tried  to  do  so,  and 
for  the  most  part  succeeded.  Whenever  I 
was  likely  to  be  involved  in  military  opera 
tions,  I  let  my  hair  and  beard  grow,  and  the 
white-haired  old  man  was  usually  exempted. 
I  have  had  far  more  experience  in  keeping 
out  of  battles  than  any  other  human  being 
has  had  in  the  art  of  winning  them.  But 
what  you  two  want  is  a  story,  and  I  will 
give  you  one. 

90 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

44  During  some  of  the  earlier  years  of  the 
seventh  century,  I  was  living  in  Ravenna, 
and  there  I  had  three  or  four  scholars  whom 
I  taught  occasionally.  I  did  not  dare  to  keep 
a  regular  school,  with  fixed  hours  and  all 
that;  but  while  I  was  not  working  at  my 
trade,  which  was  then  that  of  a  mason,  I 
gave  lessons  to  some  young  people  in  the 
neighborhood.  Sometimes  I  taught  in  the 
evening,  sometimes  in  bad  weather  when  we 
did  not  work  out  of  doors.  No  one  of  my 
scholars  showed  any  intelligence,  except  a 
girl  about  eighteen  years  old.  Her  father, 
I  think,  was  a  professional  robber,  for  his 
family  lived  very  well,  and  he  was  generally 
absent  from  home  at  the  head  of  a  little  band 
of  desperate  fellows,  of  whom  there  were  a 
great  many  in  that  region. 

"  This  girl,  whose  name  was  Rina,  had  an 
earnest  desire  for  knowledge,  and  showed  a 
great  capacity  for  imbibing  it  and  retaining 
it.  In  fact,  I  believe  she  was  the  most  intel 
ligent  person  in  that  region." 

"  Was  she  pretty  ?  "  asked  Mrs.  Crowder. 

44  Yes,"  replied  her  husband ;  44  she  was 
very  good-looking.  I  was  so  interested  in 
91 


THE   VIZIER  OF   THE 

her  desire  for  knowledge  that  I  taught  her  a 
great  deal  more  than  I  would  have  dared  to 
teach  anybody  else ;  and  the  more  I  taught, 
the  more  she  wanted  to  learn. 

"  I  soon  became  very  much  concerned 
about  Rina.  Some  man  of  the  neighborhood, 
old  or  young,  would  be  sure  to  marry  her 
before  very  long,  and  then  there  would  be 
an  end  of  the  development  of  what  I  con 
sidered  the  brightest  intellect  of  the  day." 

"  So  to  keep  that  from  happening  to  her, 
thee  married  her  thyself  *? "  asked  Mrs. 
Crowder. 

Her  husband  smiled.  "  Yes ;  that  is  what 
I  did.  You  know,"  he  said,  addressing  me, 
"that  I  believe  that  Mrs.  Crowder  takes 
more  interest  in  my  marriages  than  in  any 
thing  else  I  have  done  in  the  course  of  my 
career." 

"  Certainly  I  do,"  she  said,  with  a  little 
flush.  "  Of  course  thee  had  to  be  married, 
and  it  is  natural  enough  that  I  should  want 
to  know  whom  thee  married,  and  all  about 
it." 

"  Well,"  said  Mr.  Crowder,  "  we  must  get 
on  with  this.  A  priest  with  whom  I  was  ac- 
92 


TWO-HORNED   ALEXANDER 

quainted  married  us,  and  we  immediately 
fled  from  Ravenna.  After  a  year  or  two 
of  wandering  through  benighted  countries 
where  even  kings  and  rulers  could  not  write 
their  names,  and  where  reading  seemed  to 
be  a  lost  art,  except  in  the  monasteries,  we 
made  up  our  minds,  if  possible,  we  would  go 
from  darkness  into  light,  and  so  we  set  out 
on  a  journey  to  China." 

At  this  statement  Mrs.  Crowder  and  I 
looked  surprised. 

"  I  don't  wonder  you  open  your  eyes," 
said  he.  "  It  must  seem  odd  to  you,  unless 
you  are  very  familiar  with  the  history  of  the 
period,  that  we  should  go  from  Europe  to 
China  in  search  of  enlightenment  and  civ 
ilization;  but  that  is  what  we  did,  and  we 
found  what  we  looked  for.  As  the  Pope 
had  sent  an  envoy  to  China,  and  as  some 
Nestorian  missionaries  had  gone  there,  I  be 
lieved  that  we  could  go. 

"  This  journey  to  the  Chinese  province  of 
Nan-hae  occupied  the  greater  part  of  five 
years ;  but  to  me  personally  that  was  of  no 
account,  for  I  had  time  enough.  Although 
we  passed  through  all  sorts  of  hardships  and 
93 


THE   VIZIER  OF   THE 

dangers,  my  wife  was  greatly  interested  in 
the  strange  things  and  people  she  met. 
Sometimes  we  traveled  by  water,  sometimes 
on  horses  and  asses,  and  very  often  we 
walked.  During  the  last  part  of  the  journey 
we  joined  a  caravan  which  went  through 
central  Asia. 

"At  that  time  China  was  ruled  by  a 
woman,  the  Empress  Woo.  For  a  long 
time  back  there  had  been  a  period  of  great 
intellectual  activity  in  China.  Literature 
and  the  arts  flourished,  and  while  the  great 
personages  of  Europe  did  not  know  how 
to  write,  these  people  were  printing  from 
wooden  blocks. 

"  The  empress  was  a  remarkable  woman. 
She  had  been  one  of  the  widows  of  a  mon 
arch,  and  when  his  son  succeeded  to  the 
throne  she  married  him.  She  had  great  am 
bition  and  great  ability.  She  put  down  her 
enemies,  and  she  put  herself  forward.  She 
took  her  husband's  place  in  all  the  imperial 
consultations  and  decisions,  and  very  soon 
set  him  aside,  and  for  forty  years  was  actual 
ruler  of  the  empire. 

"  She  was  a  great  woman,  this  Empress 
94 


TWO-HORNED   ALEXANDER 

Woo.  Very  little  happened  in  her  dominions 
that  she  did  not  know,  and  when  two  wan 
derers  arrived  from  the  far  and  unknown 
West,  she  sent  for  me  and  my  wife  to  appear 
before  her  at  the  palace.  We  were  received 
with  much  favor,  for  we  could  do  her  no 
possible  harm,  and  she  was  very  eager  for 
knowledge.  My  wife  was  an  object  of  great 
curiosity  to  her,  as  she  was  so  different 
from  the  Chinese  women.  But  as  poor  Rina 
could  never  acquire  a  word  of  the  language 
of  the  country,  the  empress  soon  ceased  to 
take  interest  in  her.  As  I  was  always  very 
good  at  picking  up  languages,  she  had  me 
at  the  palace  a  great  deal,  asking  all  sorts  of 
questions  about  the  Western  countries  and 
people.  I  was  also  able  to  tell  her  much 
about  bygone  ages,  which  information  she 
thought,  of  course,  I  had  acquired  by  read 
ing. 

"  One  day  the  empress  asked  me  about  the 
marriage  customs  in  the  West,  and  wanted 
to  know  how  many  wives  a  man  could  have 
in  our  country.  She  seemed  to  be  so  much 
in  earnest,  as  she  spoke,  that  I  was  fright 
ened.  I  did  not  know  what  to  answer.  But 
95 


THE  VIZIER   OF  THE 

fortunately  one  of  her  generals  was  an 
nounced,  and  she  did  not  press  the  question. 
As  I  was  leaving  the  palace,  one  of  the  offi 
cers  of  the  court  took  me  aside,  and  told  me 
that  the  empress  was  thinking  of  marrying 
me,  and  that  I  had  better  put  on  some  fine 
clothes  when  I  came  again.  This  was  ter 
rible  news,  but  I  was  bound  to  tell  my  wife, 
and  we  sat  up  all  night  talking  about  it. 
To  escape  from  that  region  would  have  been 
impossible.  We  were  obliged  to  stay  and 
face  the  inevitable,  whatever  it  might  be. 

"  The  question  which  Rina  and  I  had  to 
decide  was  a  very  simple  one,  but  terribly 
difficult  for  all  that.  If  I  should  tell  the 
empress  that  men  of  my  country  believed 
that  it  was  right  to  have  but  one  wife,  Rina 
would  quickly  be  disposed  of;  so  she  had  to 
decide  whether  she  would  prefer  to  die  so 
that  I  might  marry  the  empress,  or  to  pre 
serve  her  life  and  lose  her  undivided  pos 
session  of  a  husband." 

"  I  know  what  I  would  have  done,"  said 

Mrs.    Crowder,   her  eyes   very   bright ;    "  I 

would  have  let  her  kill  me.     I  would  never 

have  consented  for  thee  to  marry  the  wretch." 

96 


'ASKING   ALL   SORTS   OF    QUESTIONS.' 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

"  That  would  have  pleased  her,"  said  Mr. 
Crowder;  "for  she  would  have  had  me  all 
the  same,  and  you  would  have  been  out  of 
the  way." 

"  Then  I  would  not  have  died,"  said  the 
little  Quakeress,  almost  fiercely ;  "  I  would 
not  have  done  anything  to  please  her.  But 
I  don't  know.  What  did  thee  and  thy 
wife  do'?" 

"  We  talked  and  talked  and  talked,"  said 
Mr.  Crowder,  "and  at  last  I  persuaded  her 
to  live ;  that  is  to  say,  not  to  make  herself  an 
obstacle  to  the  wishes  of  the  empress.  It 
was  a  terrible  trial,  but  she  consented.  The 
more  insignificant  she  became,  I  told  her, 
the  greater  her  chances  of  safety. 

"  The  next  day  the  empress  sent  for  me, 
as  I  was  sure  she  would  do. 

"'You  did  not  tell  me,5  she  said,  'how 
many  wives  your  men  have.'  '  That  all  de 
pends  upon  the  will  of  our  sovereign,'  I  re 
plied  ;  4  in  matrimonial  affairs  we  do  as  we 
are  commanded.  When  we  have  no  com 
mands  from  the  throne,  our  circumstances 
regulate  the  matter.' " 

"  Thee  did  tell  a  dreadful  lie  while  thee 
99 


THE  VIZIER  OF  THE 

was  about  it,"  said  Mrs.  Crowder,  "but  I 
suppose  thee  had  to." 

"  You  are  right  there,"  said  her  husband ; 
"  and  my  answer  pleased  the  empress. 
'  That  is  what  I  like,'  she  said.  '  The  mon 
arch  should  settle  all  these  matters.  I  hope 
some  day  to  settle  them  in  .  this  country.' 
Then,  without  any  hesitation  or  preface,  she 
announced  her  intention  of  marrying  me. 
4 1  greatly  need,'  she  said,  4  a  learned  man 
for  an  imperial  consort.  My  present  hus 
band  knows  nothing.  I  never  trust  him 
with  any  affairs  of  state.  But  I  have  never 
asked  you  anything  to  which  you  did  not 
give  me  a  satisfactory  answer.'  Now,  my 
dear,"  said  Mr.  Crowder,  "you  see  the  re 
ward  of  vanity.  If  I  had  pretended  to  be  a 
fool  instead  of  aspiring  to  be  a  philosopher 
and  an  historian,  I  should  never  have  at 
tracted  the  interest  of  the  queen." 

"  And  did  thee  marry  her  *? "  asked  his 
wife.  "  I  do  so  pity  poor  Rina  !  " 

"  I  '11  tell  you  how  it  turned  out,"  he  con 
tinued.  "After  pressing  me  a  good  deal, 
the  empress  said  :  *  I  had  intended  to  marry 
you  in  a  few  days,  or  as  soon  as  the  prepara- 
100 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 


tions  could  be  made ;  but  I  have  now  post 
poned  that  ceremony.  I  find  that  military 
affairs  must  occupy  me  for  some  time,  and  it 
would  be  better  for  me  at  present  to  marry 
one  of  my  generals.  A  military  man  is  what 
the  country  needs.  But  I  shall  want  a  coun 
selor  of  your  sort  very  soon,  so  you  must 
hold  yourself  ready  to  marry  me  whenever  I 
shall  notify  you.' 

"My  instincts  prompted  me  to  ask  her 
what  the  imperial  general  might  be  apt  to 
think  about  the  increase  in  her  matrimonial 
forces,  but  I  was  wise  enough  to  hold  my 
tongue.  When  the  general  should  cease  to 
be  of  use  to  her,  I  knew  very  well  that  he 
would  not  be  likely  to  offer  opposition  to 
anything  on  earth." 

"  How  glad  I  am,"  ejaculated  Mrs.  Crow- 
der,  "  that  thee  did  n't  ask  any  questions, 
and  that  thee  consented  to  everything  the 
wicked  creature  said  !  " 

"  So  am  I,"  he  replied ;  "  and  I  was  glad 
to  get  out  of  that  palace,  which  I  never 
entered  again.  From  that  day  I  began  to 
grow  old  as  fast  as  I  could.  My  hair  and 
beard  became  very  long ;  I  ate  but  little ; 
101 


THE  VIZIER  OF  THE 

I  stooped  more  and  more  each  day,  and 
walked  with  a  staff.  I  began  to  be  very  for 
getful  when  people  asked  me  questions. 
About  a  year  afterward  the  queen  saw  me. 
I  was  in  the  crowd  near  the  palace,  where  I 
had  purposely  gone  that  I  might  be  seen. 
She  looked  at  me,  but  gave  no  sign  that  she 
recognized  me.  The  next  day  an  officer 
came  to  me,  and  roughly  told  me  that  the 
empress  had  no  use  for  dotards  in  her  do 
minions,  and  that  the  sooner  I  went  away 
the  better  for  me.  I  afterward  heard  that 
the  execution  of  two  strangers  had  been 
ordered,  but  that  a  certain  superstition  in  the 
mind  of  the  empress  had  prevented  this. 
She  had  heard,  through  persons  who  had 
met  the  Nestorians,  that  people  of  our  coun 
try  were  protected  in  some  strange  manner 
which  she  did  not  understand. 

"  Rina  and  I  could  not  leave  China,  for  I 
had  now  no  money ;  but  we  went  to  a  dis 
tant  province,  where  I  lived  for  more  than 
ten  years,  passing  as  a  Chinaman." 

"  And  Rina  —  poor  Rina  *?  "  asked  Mrs. 
Crowder. 

"  She  soon  died,"  said  her  husband.  "  She 
102 


'AND    ROUGHLY    TOI.D    ME.'" 


TWO-HORNED   ALEXANDER 

was  in  a  state  of  fear  nearly  all  the  time. 
She  could  not  speak  the  language,  and  it  may 
be  said  that  she  gave  up  her  life  in  her  pur 
suit  of  knowledge.  In  this  respect  she  was 
as  wonderful  a  woman  as  was  the  Empress 
Woo." 

"  And  a  thousand  times  better,"  said  Mrs. 
Crowder,  earnestly.  "  And  then  *?  " 

"  Then,"  said  her  husband,  "  I  married  a 
Chinese  woman." 

"  What ! "  exclaimed  Mrs.  Crowder,  her 
eyes  almost  round. 

"  Yes,  my  dear ;  it  was  a  great  deal  safer 
for  me  to  be  married,  and  to  become  as 
nearly  as  possible  like  the  people  by  whom 
I  was  surrounded." 

"  But  thee  did  n't  have  several  wives,  did 
thee  ?  "  asked  Mrs.  Crowder. 

"  Oh,  no,"  he  answered ;  "  I  was  too  poor 
for  anything  of  that  kind  to  be  expected  of 
me.  When  an  opportunity  came  to  join  a 
caravan  and  get  away,  I  took  my  Chinese 
wife  with  me,  and  eventually  reached  Arabia. 
There  we  stayed  for  a  long  time,  for  I  found 
it  impossible  to  prosecute  my  journeying. 
Eventually,  however,  we  reached  the  island 
105 


THE   VIZIER  OF   THE 

of  Malta,  where  my  wife  lived  to  be  over 
seventy.  Travel,  hardships,  and  danger 
seemed  to  agree  with  her.  She  never  spoke 
any  language  but  her  own,  and  as  she  was 
of  a  quiet  disposition,  and  took  no  interest 
in  the  things  she  saw,  she  generally  passed 
as  an  imbecile.  But  she  was  the  first  Chi 
nese  woman  who  ever  visited  Europe." 

"  I  guess  thee  was  very  sorry  thee  brought 
her  before  thee  got  through  with  her.  I 
don't  approve  of  that  matrimonial  alliance 
at  all,"  said  Mrs.  Crowder. 

During  this  and  succeeding  evenings  of 
narration,  it  must  not  be  supposed  I  sat 
silent,  making  no  remarks  upon  what  I 
heard;  but,  in  fact,  what  I  said  was  of  hardly 
any  importance,  and  certainly  not  worth  in 
troducing  into  this  account  of  Mr.  Crow- 
der's  experiences.  But  the  effect  of  his 
words  upon  Mrs.  Crowder,  as  shown  both  by 
the  play  of  her  features  and  her  frequent 
questions  and  exclamations,  interested  me 
almost  as  much  as  the  statements  of  my 
host.  I  had  previously  known  her  as  the 
gentlest,  the  sweetest,  and  the  most  attrac 
tive  of  my  female  acquaintances;  but  now 
103 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

I  found  her  to  be  a  woman  of  keen  intel 
lect  and  quick  appreciation.  Her  remarks, 
which  were  very  frequent,  and  which  I  shall 
not  always  record,  were  like  seasoning  and 
spice  to  the  narrative  of  Mr.  Crowder. 
Never  before  had  a  wife  heard  such  stories 
from  a  husband,  and  there  never  could  have 
been  a  woman  who  would  have  heard  them 
with  such  religious  faith.  Naturally,  she 
showed  me  a  most  friendly  confidence.  The 
fact  that  we  were  both  the  loyal  disciples 
of  one  master  was  a  bond  between  us.  He 
was  so  much  older  than  either  of  us,  and 
he  regarded  us  sometimes  with  what  looked 
so  much  like  parental  affection,  that  it  would 
not  have  been  surprising  if  persons,  not  be 
lievers  as  we  were,  should  have  entertained 
the  idea  that,  in  course  of  time,  he  would 
pass  away,  and  that  we  two  should  be  left 
to  comfort  each  other  as  well  as  we  might. 
But  I,  who  had  heard  my  friend  speak  of 
the  coming  years,  could  not  forget  the  pic 
ture  he  had  drawn  of  two  aged  and  feeble 
people,  looked  up  to  in  love  and  veneration 
by  a  fresh  and  hearty  man  of  fifty-three. 
44  Thee  never  seemed  to  have  any  trouble 
6  107 


THE   VIZIER  OF   THE 

in  getting  married,"  said  Mrs.  Crowder. 
"Did  thee  ever  stay  an  old  bachelor  any 
length  of  time  «  " 

Crowder  laughed.  Such  questions  from 
his  wife  amused  him  very  much. 

"  I  was  thinking  of  changing  the  subject," 
said  he,  "and  was  about  to  tell  you  some 
thing  which  had  not  anything  to  do  with 
wives  and  marriages.  I  thought  you  might 
be  tired  of  that  sort  of  thing." 

"  Not  at  all,"  said  she,  quickly ;  "  that  5s 
just  what  I  want  to  hear." 

" Very  well,"  answered  he ;  "I  will  give 
you  a  little  instance  of  one  of  my  failures  in 
love-making. 

"  It  was  long  before  my  visit  to  Empress 
Woo;  in  fact,  it  was  about  eleven  hundred 
years  before  Christ,  and  I  was  living  in  Syria, 
where  I  was  teaching  school  in  the  little 
town  of  Timnath.  I  became  very  much 
interested  in  one  of  the  girls  of  my  class. 
She  was  a  good  deal  older  than  any  of  the 
others;  in  fact,  she  was  a  young  woman. 
She  had  a  bright  mind,  and  was  eager  to 
learn,  and  I  naturally  became  interested  in 
her;  and  in  the  course  of  time  she  pleased 
108 


TWO-HORNED   ALEXANDER 

me  so  much  that  I  determined  to  marry 
her." 

"  It  seems  thee  was  in  the  habit  of  marry 
ing  thy  scholars,"  said  Mrs.  Crowder. 

"  There  is  nothing  very  strange  in  that," 
he  replied ;  "  a  schoolmaster  usually  becomes 
very  well  acquainted  with  some  of  his  schol 
ars,  and  if  a  girl  pleases  him  very  much  it  is 
not  surprising  that  he  should  prefer  to  marry 
her,  or,  at  least,  to  try  to,  than  to  go  out 
among  comparative  strangers  to  look  for  a 
wife." 

"  If  I  had  been  in  thy  place,"  said  Mrs. 
Crowder,  reflectively,  "sometimes  I  would 
have  enjoyed  a  long  rest  of  bachelordom  ;  it 
would  have  been  a  variety." 

"Oh,  I  have  had  variety  of  that  kind," 
said  he.  "  For  many  succeeding  decades  I 
have  been  widower,  or  bachelor,  whichever 
you  choose  to  call  it. 

"As  I  was  saying,  this  girl  pleased  me 
very  much.  She  was  good-looking,  bright, 
and  witty,  and  her  dark,  flashing  eyes  won 
her  a  great  deal  of  attention  from  the  young 
men  of  the  place ;  but  she  would  not  have 
anything  to  do  with  them.  They  could  not 
109 


THE  VIZIER   OF  THE 

boast  much  in  regard  to  intelligence  or  edu 
cation,  nor  were  any  of  them  in  very  good 
circumstances;  and  so,  in  spite  of  my  years, 
she  seemed  to  take  very  kindly  to  me,  and  I 
made  up  my  mind  I  would  marry  her  the 
approaching  autumn.  I  had  some  money, 
and  there  was  a  house  with  a  piece  of  land 
for  sale  near  the  town.  This  I  planned  to 
buy,  and  to  settle  down  as  an  agriculturist. 
I  was  tired  of  school-teaching." 

"No  wonder,"  said  Mrs.  Crowder,  "as  thee 
intended  to  take  out  of  it  its  principal  at 
traction." 

"  We  were  walking,  one  evening,  over  the 
fields,  talking  of  astronomy,  in  which  she 
took  a  great  interest,  when  we  saw  a  man 
approaching  who  was  evidently  a  stranger. 
He  was  a  fellow  of  medium  height,  but  he 
gave  the  impression  of  great  size  and  vigor. 
As  he  came  nearer,  striding  over  the  rough 
places,  and  paying  no  attention  to  paths,  I 
saw  that  he  was  very  broad-shouldered,  with 
a  heavy  body  and  thick  neck.  His  legs 
were  probably  of  average  size,  but  they 
looked  somewhat  small  in  comparison  with 
his  body  and  his  long  arms,  which  swung  by 
110 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

his  sides  as  he  walked.  He  was  a  young 
man,  bushy-bearded,  with  bright  and  obser 
vant  eyes.  As  he  passed  us,  he  looked  very 
hard  at  my  companion,  and,  I  am  sorry  to 
say,  she  turned  her  head  and  gazed  stead 
fastly  at  him. 

44  4  That 's  a  fine  figure  of  a  man,'  she  said. 
4  He  looks  strong  enough  for  anything.' 

44 1  did  n't  encourage  her  admiration. 
4  He  might  be  made  useful  on  a  farm,'  I  said ; 
4  if  his  legs  were  as  big  as  the  rest  of  him,  he 
could  draw  a  plow  as  well  as  an  ox.' 

44  She  made  no  answer  to  this ;  but  her 
interest  in  astronomy  seemed  to  decrease, 
and  she  soon  proposed  that  we  should  turn 
back  to  the  town.  On  the  way  we  met  the 
stranger  again,  and  this  time  he  stopped  and 
asked  us  some  questions  about  the  country 
and  the  neighborhood.  All  the  time  we 
were  talking  he  and  my  scholar  were  look 
ing  at  each  other,  and  each  of  them  seemed 
entirely  satisfied  with  the  survey.  The  next 
day  the  girl  was  very  inattentive  at  school, 
and  in  the  afternoon,  when  I  hoped  to  take 
a  walk  with  her,  I  could  not  find  her,  and 
went  out  by  myself.  Before  long  I  saw  her 
111 


THE  VIZIER   OF  THE 

sitting  under  a  tree,  talking  to  the  stranger 
of  yesterday." 

"  She  was  a  regular  flirt,"  said  Mrs.  Crow- 
der. 

"Apparently  she  was,"  replied  her  hus 
band  ;  "  but  although  I  might  have  excused 
her,  considering  how  much  better  suited  this 
stranger  was  to  her,  in  point  of  years  at  least, 
I  was  not  willing  to  withdraw  and  leave  her 
to  another,  especially  as  he  might  be  a  per 
son  entirely  unworthy  of  her. 

"  I  did  not  disturb  them,  but  I  went  back 
to  the  town  and  made  some  inquiries  about 
the  stranger.  I  found  that  he  was  a  Danite, 
and  lived  with  his  parents  in  Zorah,  and  that 
his  name  was  Samson.  I  also  learned  that 
his  family  was  possessed  of  considerable 
means. 

"  It  soon  became  plain  that  it  would  not 
be  easy  for  me  to  carry  out  my  marriage 
plans  and  settle  down  among  my  vines  and 
fig-trees.  Samson  went  home,  told  his  pa 
rents  of  his  desire  to  marry  this  girl,  and  in 
the  course  of  time  they  all  came  down  to 
Timnath  and  made  regular  matrimonial 
propositions  to  her  parents." 
112 


V 


SHE   TURNED    HER    HEAD 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

"  Was  this  the  great  Samson  who  tore 
lions  apart  and  threw  down  temples  ?  "  asked 
Mrs.  Crowder,  in  amazement. 

"  The  very  man,"  was  the  reply ;  "  and  he 
was  the  most  formidable  rival  I  ever  had  in 
that  sort  of  affair.  The  proper  thing  for  me 
to  do,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  times, 
would  have  been  to  take  him  aside,  as  soon 
as  I  found  that  he  was  paying  attentions  to 
my  sweetheart,  and  fight  him ;  but  the  more 
I  looked  at  him  and  his  peculiar  propor 
tions,  the  more  I  was  convinced  that  he  was 
not  a  man  with  whom  I  wanted  to  fight." 

"  I  should  think  not,"  said  Mrs.  Crowder. 
"  How  glad  I  am  thee  never  touched  him  !  " 

"  The  result  might  not  have  been  disas 
trous  to  me,"  he  said ;  "  for  although  I  have 
always  avoided  military  matters  as  much  as 
possible,  I  was  probably  better  versed  in  the 
use  of  a  sword  than  he  was.  But  I  did  not 
care  to  kill  him,  and  from  what  I  heard  of 
him  afterward,  I  am  sure  that  if  he  had  ever 
got  those  long  arms  around  me  I  should 
have  been  a  mass  of  broken  bones. 

"  So,  taking  everything  into  consideration, 
I  gave  up  my  plan  to  marry  this  girl  of 
115 


THE   VIZIER  OF  ALEXANDER 

Timnath ;  and  I  was  afterward  very  glad  I 
did  so,  for  she  proved  a  tricky  creature,  and 
entered  into  a  conspiracy  to  deceive  her  hus 
band,  actually  weeping  before  him  seven 
days  in  order  to  worm  out  of  him  the  secret 
of  his  strength." 

44 1  suppose  thee  never  met  Delilah  ? " 
asked  Mrs.  Crowder. 

"  Oh,  no,"  he  answered ;  "  before  Samson 
was  married  I  left  that  part  of  the  world, 
and  I  did  not  make  the  acquaintance  of  the 
attractive  young  person  who  was  so  suc 
cessful  in  the  grand  competition  of  discov 
ering  the  source  of  Samson's  strength.  In 
fact,  it  was  nearly  a  hundred  years  after  that 
before  I  heard  of  those  great  exploits  of 
Samson  which  have  given  him  such  wide 
spread  fame." 

"  I  am  glad  thee  never  met  Delilah,"  said 
Mrs.  Crowder,  reflectively;  "for  thee,  too, 
was  possessed  of  a  great  secret,  and  she 
might  have  gained  it  from  thee." 


116 


IV 


THINK  thee  was  in  great  dan 
ger,"  continued  Mrs.  Crowder,"in 
that  Samson  business.  It  makes 
me  shudder  to  think,  even  now, 
of  what  might  have  happened  to  thee." 

"  There  was  not  much  danger,"  said  he ; 
"  for  all  I  had  to  do  was  to  withdraw,  and 
there  was  an  end  to  the  matter.  I  have  often 
and  often  been  in  greater  danger  than  that. 
For  instance,  I  was  in  the  army  of  Xerxes, 
compelled  to  enter  it  simply  because  I  hap 
pened  to  be  in  Persia.  My  sympathies  were 
entirely  with  the  Greeks.  My  age  did  not 
protect  me  at  all.  Everybody  who  in  any 
way  could  be  made  useful  was  dragged  into 
that  army.  It  was  known  that  I  had  a 
knowledge  of  engineering  and  surveying, 
and  I  was  taken  into  the  army  to  help  build 
bridges  and  lay  out  camps. 
117 


THE  VIZIER  OF   THE 

"  Here  it  was  that  I  saw  the  curious 
method  of  counting  the  soldiers  which  was 
adopted  by  the  officers  of  Xerxes's  army. 
As  you  may  have  read,  ten  thousand  men 
were  collected  on  a  plain  and  made  to  stand 
close  together  in  a  mass  nearly  circular  in 
shape.  Then  a  strong  fence,  with  a  wide 
gate  to  the  west  and  another  to  the  east,  was 
built  around  them,  and  I  was  engaged  in  the 
constructing  and  strengthening  of  this  fence. 
When  the  fence  was  finished,  the  men  were 
ordered  to  march  out  of  the  inclosure,  and 
other  soldiers  marched  in  until  it  was  again 
entirely  filled.  This  process  was  repeated 
until  the  whole  army  had  been  in  the  inclo 
sure.  Thus  they  got  rid  of  the  labor  of 
counting  —  measuring  the  army  instead  of 
enumerating  it.  But  the  results  were  not 
accurate.  I  was  greatly  interested  in  the 
matter,  and  on  three  occasions  I  stood  at  the 
exit  gate  as  the  soldiers  were  coming  out, 
and  counted  them,  and  the  number  never 
amounted  to  ten  thousand.  One  counting 
showed  less  than  seven  thousand, —  the  men 
did  not  pack  themselves  together  as  closely 
as  they  were  packed  the  first  time, —  so  I 
118 


TWO-HORNED   ALEXANDER 

am  confident  that  Xerxes's  army  was  not  so 
large  as  it  was  reported  to  be. 

"  I  became  so  much  interested  in  the 
operations  and  constitution  of  this  great  horde 
of  soldiers,  attendants,  animals,  vehicles,  and 
ships,  that  I  went  about  looking  at  every 
thing  and  getting  all  the  information  possi 
ble.  In  these  days  I  would  have  been  a  war 
correspondent,  and  I  did  act  somewhat  in 
that  capacity  ;  for  I  told  Herodotus  a  great 
many  of  the  facts  which  he  put  into  his  his 
tory  of  this  great  campaign." 

"  Thee  knew  Herodotus  ?  "  his  wife  asked. 

"  Oh,  yes ;  I  worked  with  him  a  long  time, 
and  gave  him  information  which  helped  him 
very  much  in  writing  his  histories;  but  it 
would  have  been  of  greater  advantage  to  the 
world  if  he  had  adhered  more  closely  to  my 
statements.  I  told  him  what  I  discovered  in 
regard  to  the  enumeration  of  the  army  of 
Xerxes,  but  he  wanted  to  make  that  army  as 
big  as  he  could,  and  he  paid  little  attention 
to  my  remonstrances. 

"  Herodotus  was  only  four  years  old  when 
Xerxes  invaded  Greece,  and  of  course  all  his 
knowledge  concerning  that  expedition  was 
119 


THE  VIZIER   OF  THE 

second-hand,  and  by  the  time  he  began  to 
write  his  history  of  the  campaign  there  were 
very  few  people  living  who  knew  anything 
personally  about  it.  If  he  had  not  been  a 
man  so  entirely  wrapped  up  in  his  own  work 
he  would  have  wondered  how  any  one  of  my 
apparent  age  could  give  him  so  much  in  the 
way  of  personal  experience ;  but  he  seemed 
to  have  no  suspicions,  and,  at  any  rate,  asked 
no  questions,  and  as  I  had  a  great  desire 
that  this  remarkable  historical  event  should 
be  fully  recorded,  I  helped  him  as  much  as 
I  could. 

"  I  had  been  assisting  in  the  construction 
of  the  canal  behind  Mount  Athos,  which 
Xerxes  made  in  order  to  afford  a  short  cut 
for  his  vessels,  and  as  I  had  frequently 
climbed  into  the  various  portions  of  the 
mountain  in  order  to  make  surveys  of  the 
country  below,  I  had  obtained  a  pretty  good 
knowledge  of  the  neighborhood;  and  when 
disaster  after  disaster  began  to  hurl  them 
selves  upon  this  unfortunate  multitude  of 
invaders,  I  took  measures  for  my  safety.  I 
did  not  want  to  go  back  to  Persia,  even  if  I 
could  go  there,  which  looked  very  doubtful 
120 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

after  the  battle  of  Salami s,  and  as  I  had 
come  into  the  country  with  the  Persians,  it 
might  have  been  unsafe  to  show  myself  with 
the  Greeks ;  so,  remembering  what  I  had 
seen  of  the  wild  regions  of  Mount  Athos,  I 
made  my  way  there,  with  the  intention  of 
dwelling  in  its  rocky  fastnesses  until  the 
country  should  become  safe  for  the  ordinary 
wayfarer.  As  there  was  no  opportunity  of 
teaching  school  on  that  desolate  moun 
tain  —  " 

"  And  marrying  one  of  thy  scholars,"  in 
terpolated  Mrs.  Crowder. 

"  —  I  became  a  sort  of  hermit,"  he  con 
tinued  ;  "  but  I  did  not  spend  my  time  after 
the  usual  fashion  of  the  conventional  hermit, 
who  lives  on  water-cresses  and  reads  great 
books  with  a  skull  to  keep  the  pages  open. 
I  built  myself  a  rude  cabin  under  a  great 
rock,  and  lived  somewhat  after  the  fashion 
of  the  other  inhabitants  of  that  wild  region, 
mostly  robbers  and  outlaws.  As  I  had 
nothing  which  any  one  would  want  to  steal, 
I  was  not  afraid  of  them,  and  I  could  occa 
sionally  be  of  a  little  service  to  them,  espe 
cially  in  the  way  of  rude  medical  atten- 
121 


THE   VIZIER  OF   THE 

dance,  for  which  they  were  willing  to  pay  me 
by  giving  me  now  and  then  some  food. 

"I  had  laid  in  a  stock  of  writing-materials 
before  I  went  up  on  the  mountain,  and  I 
now  went  to  work  with  great  enthusiasm  to 
set  down  what  I  knew  of  the  expedition  of 
Xerxes,  and  here  it  was  that  I  made  the 
notes  which  were  afterward  so  useful  to 
Herodotus. 

"  When  the  country  became  quieter  I 
went  down  into  the  plains,  looked  over  the 
battle-fields,  and  obtained  a  great  deal  of 
information  from  the  villagers  and  country 
people.  I  stayed  here  nearly  two  years,  and 
had  a  pretty  hard  time  of  it ;  but  when  I 
went  away  I  took  with  me  a  very  valuable 
collection  of  notes. 

"  For  many  years  I  made  no  use  of  these 
notes;  but  being  in  Halicarnassus,  I  heard 
of  Herodotus,  who  was  described  as  a  great 
scholar  and  traveler,  and  engaged  in  writing 
history.  To  him  I  applied  without  loss  of 
time,  and  I  made  a  regular  engagement, 
working  several  hours  with  him  every  day. 
For  this  he  paid  me  weekly  a  sum  equal 
to  about  two  dollars  and  seventy-five  cents 
122 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

of  our  present  money ;  but  it  was  enough  to 
support  me,  and  I  was  very  glad  to  have 
the  opportunity  of  sending  some  of  my  ex 
periences  and  observations  down  into  his 
tory.  It  was  at  this  time  that  the  love  of 
literary  work  began  to  arise  within  me,  and 
in  the  next  three  or  four  centuries  after  the 
death  of  Herodotus  I  wrote  a  number  of 
books  on  various  subjects  and  under  various 
names,  and  some  of  these,  as  I  mentioned 
before,  were  destroyed  with  the  Alexandrian 
Library. 

"  It  was  in  this  period  that  I  made  the 
acquaintance  of  an  editor  —  the  first  editor, 
in  fact,  of  whom  I  know  anything  at  all.  I 
was  in  Rhodes,  and  there  was  a  learned  man 
there  named  Andronicus,  who  was  engaged 
in  editing  the  works  of  Aristotle.  All  the 
manuscripts  and  books  which  that  great 
philosopher  left  behind  him  had  been  given 
to  a  friend,  or  trustee,  and  had  passed  from 
this  person  into  the  possession  of  others,  so 
that  for  about  a  hundred  years  the  world 
knew  nothing  of  them.  Then  they  came 
into  the  hands  of  Andronicus,  who  under 
took  to  edit  them  and  get  them  into  proper 
123 


THE  VIZIER  OF  THE 

shape  for  publication.  I  went  to  Androni- 
cus,  and  as  soon  as  he  found  I  was  a  person 
qualified  for  such  work,  he  engaged  me  as 
his  assistant  editor.  I  held  this  position  for 
several  years,  and  two  or  three  of  the  books 
of  Aristotle  I  transcribed  entirely  with  my 
own  hand,  properly  shaping  sentences  and 
paragraphs,  and  very  often  making  the  ne 
cessary  divisions.  From  my  experience  with 
Andronicus,  I  am  sure  that  none  of  the 
works  of  Aristotle  were  given  to  the  world 
exactly  as  he  wrote  them,  for  we  often  found 
his  manuscript  copies  very  rough  and  dis 
jointed  so  far  as  literary  construction  is  con 
cerned,  but  I  will  also  say  that  we  never 
interfered  with  his  philosophical  theories  or 
his  scientific  statements  and  deductions." 

"  In  all  that  time  thee  never  married  ?  " 
asked  Mrs.  Crowder. 

Crowder  and  I  could  not  help  laughing. 

"  I  did  not  say  so,"  said  he,  "  but  I  will 
say  that,  with  one  exception,  I  do  not  re 
member  any  interesting  matrimonial  alli 
ances  which  occurred  during  the  period 
of  my  literary  labors.  I  married  a  young 
woman  of  Rhodes,  and  gave  her  a  very  con- 
124 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

siderable  establishment,  which  I  was  able  to 
do,  for  Andronicus  paid  me  much  better 
than  Herodotus  had  done ;  but  she  did  not 
prove  a  very  suitable  helpmeet,  and  I  believe 
she  married  me  simply  because  I  was  in 
fairly  good  circumstances.  She  soon  showed 
that  she  preferred  a  young  man  to  an  elderly 
student,  the  greater  part  of  whose  time  was 
occupied  with  books  and  manuscripts,  and 
we  had  not  been  married  a  year  when  she 
ran  away  with  a  young  goldsmith,  and  dis 
appeared  from  Rhodes,  as  I  discovered,  on  a 
vessel  bound  for  Rome.  I  resigned  myself 
to  my  loss,  and  did  not  even  try  to  obtain 
news  of  her.  I  was  too  much  engrossed  in 
my  work  to  be  interested  in  a  runaway  wife. 
"  It  was  a  little  more  than  half  a  century 
after  this  that  I  was  in  Rome  and  sitting  on 
the  steps  of  one  of  the  public  buildings  in 
the  Forum.  I  was  waiting  to  meet  some  one 
with  whom  I  had  business,  and  while  I  sat 
there  an  old  woman  stopped  in  front  of  me. 
She  was  evidently  poor,  and  wretchedly 
dressed ;  her  scanty  hair  was  gray,  and  her 
face  was  wrinkled  and  shrunken.  I  thought, 
of  course,  she  was  a  beggar,  and  was  about 
7  125 


THE   VIZIER  OF   THE 

to  give  her  something,  when  she  clasped  her 
hands  in  front  of  her  and  exclaimed,  '  How 
like!  How  like!  How  like!'  'Like 
whom  4? '  said  I.  '  What  are  you  talking 
about  ?  '  4  Like  your  father,'  she  said,  '  like 
your  father !  You  are  so  like  him,  you  re 
semble  him  so  much  in  form  and  feature,  in 
the  way  you  sit,  in  everything,  that  you 
must  be  his  son ! '  'I  have  no  doubt  I  am 
my  father's  son,'  said  I,  '  and  what  do  you 
know  about  him?'  'I  married  him,'  she 
said.  '  For  nearly  a  year  I  was  his  wife,  and 
then  I  foolishly  ran  away  and  left  him. 
What  became  of  him  I  know  not,  nor  how 
long  he  lived,  but  he  was  a  great  deal  older 
than  I  was,  and  must  have  passed  away 
many  years  ago.  But  thou  art  his  image. 
He  had  the  same  ruddy  face,  the  same  short 
white  hair,  the  same  broad  shoulders,  the 
same  way  of  crossing  his  legs  as  he  sat.  He 
must  have  married  soon  after  I  left  him. 
Tell  me,  whom  did  he  marry  ?  What  was 
thy  mother's  name  ?  '  I  gave  her  the  name 
of  my  real  mother,  and  she  shook  her  head. 
6 1  never  heard  of  her,'  she  said.  '  Did  thy 
father  ever  speak  of  me,  a  wife  who  ran 
126 


"  '  HOW  LIKE!  '  " 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

away  from  him  *?  '  '  Yes ;  he  has  spoken  of 
you  —  that  is,  if  you  are  Zalia,  the  daughter 
of  an  oil-merchant  of  Rhodes  *? ' 

"  '  I  am  that  woman/  she  exclaimed,  '  I  am 
that  woman!  And  did  he  mourn  my  loss?' 

44  *  Not  much,  I  think,  not  much/  Then 
I  became  a  little  nervous,  for  if  this  old 
woman  talked  to  me  much  longer  I  was 
afraid,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  I  was  an 
elderly  man  when  she  was  a  girl,  that  she 
would  become  convinced  that  I  could  not 
be  the  son  of  the  man  who  had  once  been 
her  husband,  but  must  be  that  man  himself. 
So  I  hastily  excused  myself  on  the  plea  of 
business,  and  after  having  given  her  some 
money  I  left  her." 

"  And  did  thee  never  see  her  again  ?  "  his 
wife  asked,  almost  with  tears  in  her  eyes. 

"No,  I  never  saw  her  again,"  said  Mr. 
Crowder ;  "  I  was  careful  not  to  do  that : 
but  I  did  not  neglect  her ;  I  caused  good 
care  to  be  taken  of  her  until  she  died." 

There  was  a  slight  pause  here,  and  then 
Mrs.  Crowder  said: 

"  Thee  has  known  a  great  deal  of  poverty ; 
in  nearly  all  thy  stories  thee  is  a  poor  man." 
129 


THE  VIZIER   OF  THE 

"  There  is  good  reason  for  that,"  said  Mr. 
Crowder;  "poor  people  frequently  have 
more  adventures,  at  least  more  interesting 
ones,  than  those  who  are  in  easy  circum 
stances.  Possession  of  money  is  apt  to 
make  life  smoother  and  more  commonplace ; 
so,  in  selecting  the  most  interesting  events 
of  my  career  to  tell  you,  I  naturally  describe 
periods  of  comparative  poverty — and  there 
were  some  periods  in  which  I  was  in  actual 
want  of  the  necessaries  of  life. 

"  But  you  must  not  suppose  that  I  have 
always  been  poor.  I  have  had  my  periods 
of  wealth,  but,  as  I  explained  to  you  before, 
it  was  very  difficult,  on  account  of  the  fre 
quent  necessity  of  changing  my  place  of 
residence,  as  well  as  my  identity,  to  carry 
over  my  property  from  one  set  of  conditions 
to  another.  However,  I  have  often  been 
able  to  do  this,  and  at  one  time  I  was  in 
comfortable  circumstances  for  nearly  two 
hundred  years.  But  generally,  when  I  found 
myself  obliged  to  leave  a  place  where  I  had 
been  living,  for  fear  of  suspicion  concerning 
my  age,  I  had  to  leave  everything  behind 
me. 

130 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

"  I  will  tell  you  a  little  story  about  one  of 
my  attempts  to  provide  for  the  future.  It 
was  toward  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
about  the  time  that  Columbus  set  out  on  his 
first  voyage  of  discovery, —  and  you  would 
be  surprised,  considering  the  important  re 
sults  of  his  voyage,  to  know  how  little  sen 
sation  it  caused  in  Europe, —  that  I  devised 
a  scheme  by  which  I  thought  I  might  estab 
lish  for  myself  a  permanent  fortune.  I  was 
then  living  in  Genoa,  and  was  carrying  on 
the  same  business  in  which  I  am  now  en 
gaged.  I  was  a  broker,  a  dealer  in  money 
and  commercial  paper.  I  was  prosperous 
and  well  able  to  carry  out  the  plan  I  had 
formed.  This  plan  was  a  simple  one.  I 
would  purchase  jewels,  things  easily  carried 
about  or  concealed,  and  which  would  be 
valuable  in  any  country  or  any  age ;  and 
with  this  idea  in  my  mind  I  spent  many 
years  in  collecting  valuable  stones  and 
jewels,  confining  myself  generally  to  rings, 
for  I  wished  to  make  the  bulk  of  my  trea 
sures  very  small  when  compared  with  their 
value. 

"  About  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
131 


THE  VIZIER  OF  THE 

tury  I  went  to  Rome,  and  took  my  jewels 
with  me.  They  were  then  a  wonderfully 
fine  collection  of  gems,  some  of  them  of 
great  antiquity  and  value ;  for,  in  gradually 
gathering  them  together,  the  enthusiasm  of 
the  collector  had  possessed  me,  and  I  often 
traveled  far  to  possess  myself  of  a  valuable 
jewel  of  which  I  had  heard.  I  remained  in 
Rome  as  long  as  I  dared  do  so,  and  then 
prepared  to  set  out  for  Egypt,  which  I  had 
not  visited  for  a  long  time,  and  where  I  ex 
pected  to  find  interesting  though  depressing 
changes.  I  concluded,  naturally  enough, 
that  it  would  be  dangerous  for  me  to  take 
my  treasures  with  me,  and  I  could  conceive 
of  no  place  where  it  would  be  better  to  leave 
them  than  in  the  Eternal  City.  Rome  was 
central  and  comparatively  easy  of  access 
from  any  part  of  the  world,  and,  moreover, 
was  less  liable  to  changes  than  any  other 
place ;  so  I  determined  to  leave  my  treasures 
in  Rome,  and  to  put  them  somewhere  where 
they  were  not  likely  to  be  disturbed  by  the 
march  of  improvement,  by  the  desolations 
of  war  and  conquest,  or  to  become  lost  to 
me  by  the  action  of  nature.  I  decided  to 
132 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

bury  them  in  the  catacombs.  With  these 
ancient  excavations  I  was  familiar,  and  I 
believed  that  in  their  dark  and  mysterious 
recesses  I  could  conceal  my  jewels,  and  that 
I  could  find  them  again  when  I  wanted 
them. 

"  I  procured  a  small  box  made  of  thick 
bronze,  and  in  this  I  put  all  my  rings  and 
gems,  and  with  them  I  inclosed  several 
sheets  of  parchment,  on  which  I  had  written, 
with  the  fine  ink  the  monks  used  in  engross 
ing  their  manuscripts,  a  detailed  description, 
and  frequently  a  history,  of  every  one  of 
these  valuable  objects.  Having  securely 
fastened  up  the  box,  I  concealed  it  in  my 
clothing  and  then  made  my  way  to  the  cata 
combs. 

"  It  was  a  dark  and  rainy  evening,  and  as 
the  entrances  to  the  catacombs  were  not 
guarded  in  those  days,  it  was  not  difficult  for 
me  to  make  my  way  unseen  into  their  inte 
rior.  I  had  brought  with  me  a  tinder-box 
and  several  rushlights,  and  as  soon  as  I  felt 
secure  from  observation  from  the  outside  I 
struck  a  light  and  began  my  operations. 
Then,  according  to  a  plan  I  had  previously 
133 


THE  VIZIER   OF  THE 

made,  I  slowly  walked  along  the  solemn 
passageway  which  I  had  entered. 

"  My  plan  of  procedure  was  a  very  simple 
one,  and  I  had  purposely  made  it  so  in  order 
that  it  might  be  more  easily  remembered.  I 
was  well  acquainted  with  the  position  of  the 
opening  by  which  I  had  entered.  For  sev 
eral  days  I  had  studied  carefully  its  relation 
to  other  points  in  the  surrounding  country. 
Starting  from  this  opening,  my  plan  was  to 
proceed  inward  through  the  long  corridor 
until  I  came  to  a  transverse  passage;  to  pass 
this  until  I  reached  another;  to  pass  this 
also,  and  to  go  on  until  I  came  to  a  third ; 
then  I  would  turn  to  my  left  and  proceed 
until  I  had  passed  two  other  transverse  pas 
sages  and  reached  a  third ;  then  I  would 
again  turn  to  my  left  and  count  the  open 
tombs  on  my  left  hand.  When  I  reached 
the  third  tomb  I  would  stop.  Thus  there 
would  be  a  series  of  three  threes,  and  it  was 
scarcely  possible  that  I  could  forget  that. 

"At   this    period    a   great   many   of  the 

tombs   were    open,   having   been    despoiled 

even  of  the  few  bones  they  contained.     The 

opening  at  which  I  stopped  was  quite  a  large 

134 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

one,  and  when  I  put  my  light  inside  I  found 
it  was  entirely  empty. 

"  Lighting  another  rush-candle,  I  stuck 
it  in  the  bottom  of  the  tomb,  which  was 
about  four  feet  above  the  floor  of  the  pas 
sage,  and  drawing  my  large  dagger,  I  pro 
ceeded  to  dig  a  hole  in  the  left-hand  corner 
nearest  the  front.  The  earth  was  dry  and  free 
from  stones,  and  I  soon  made  a  hole  two  feet 
deep,  at  the  bottom  of  which  I  placed  my 
box.  Then  I  covered  it  up,  pressing  the  earth 
firmly  down  into  the  hole.  When  this  was 
entirely  filled,  I  smoothed  away  the  rest  of 
the  earth  I  had  taken  out,  and  after  I  fin 
ished  my  work,  the  floor  of  the  tomb  did  not 
look  as  if  it  had  been  disturbed.  Then  I 
went  away,  reached  the  passage  three  tombs 
from  me,  turned  to  the  right,  went  on  until 
I  reached  the  third  transverse  passage,  then 
went  on  until  I  came  to  the  entrance.  It 
was  raining  heavily,  but  I  was  glad  to  get 
out  into  the  storm." 

"  Now,  please  hurry  on,"  said  Mrs.  Crow- 
der.  "  When  did  thee  get  them  again  ?  " 

"A  great  many  things  happened  in  Egypt," 
said  Mr.  Crowder,  "  some  pleasant  and  some 
135 


THE  VIZIER  OF  THE 

unpleasant,  and  they  kept  me  there  a  long 
time.  After  that  I  went  to  Constantinople, 
and  subsequently  resided  in  Greece  and  in 
Venice.  I  lived  very  comfortably  during  the 
greater  part  of  this  period,  and  therefore 
there  was  no  particular  reason  why  I  should 
go  after  my  jewels.  So  it  happened  that, 
for  one  cause  or  another,  I  did  not  go  back 
to  Rome  until  early  in  the  nineteenth  cen 
tury,  and  I  need  not  assure  you  that  almost 
the  first  place  I  visited  was  the  catacombs. 

"  After  three  hundred  years  of  absence  I 
found  the  entrance,  but  if  I  had  not  so  well 
noted  its  position  in  relation  to  certain  ruins 
and  natural  objects  I  should  not  have  recog 
nized  it.  It  was  not  now  a  wide  opening 
through  which  a  man  might  walk ;  it  was  a 
little  hole  scarcely  big  enough  for  a  fox  to 
crawl  through ;  in  fact,  I  do  not  believe  there 
would  have  been  any  opening  there  at  all  if 
it  had  not  been  for  the  small  animals  living 
in  the  catacombs,  which  had  maintained  this 
opening  for  the  purpose  of  going  in  and  out. 
It  was  broad  daylight  when  I  found  this  en 
trance.  Of  course  I  did  not  attempt  to  do 
anything  then,  but  in  the  night,  when  there 
136 


I    PROCEEDED    TO    DIG   A   HOLE.1 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

was  no  moon,  I  came  with  a  spade.  I  en 
larged  the  hole,  crawled  through,  and  after 
a  time  found  myself  in  a  passageway,  which 
was  unobstructed." 

"  Now,  hurry  on,"  said  Mrs.  Crowder. 

"  I  brought  no  rushlights  with  me  this 
time,"  said  Mr.  Crowder.  "I  had  a  good 
lantern,  and  I  walked  steadily  on  until  I 
came  to  the  third  transverse  passage;  I 
turned  to  the  left,  counted  three  more  pas 
sages  ;  I  turned  to  the  left,  I  walked  on  slowly, 
I  examined  the  left-hand  wall,  and  apparently 
there  were  no  open  tombs.  This  startled  me, 
but  I  soon  found  that  I  had  been  mistaken. 
I  saw  some  tombs  which  were  not  open,  but 
which  had  been  opened  and  were  now  nearly 
filled  with  the  dust  of  ages.  I  stopped  before 
the  first  of  these ;  then  I  went  on  and  clearly 
made  out  the  position  of  another;  then  I 
came  to  the  third :  that  was  really  open,  al 
though  the  aperture  was  much  smaller  than 
it  had  been.  It  did  not  look  as  I  remem 
bered  it,  but  without  hesitation  I  took  a 
trowel  which  I  had  brought  with  me,  and 
began  to  dig  in  the  nearest  left-hand  corner. 

"  I  dug  and  I  dug  until  I  had  gone  down 
139 


THE   VIZIER  OF   THE 

more  than  two  feet ;  then  I  dug  on  and  on 
until,  standing  in  the  passage  as  I  was,  I 
could  not  reach  down  any  deeper  into  the 
hole  I  had  made.  So  I  crawled  into  the 
tomb,  crouched  down  on  my  breast,  and  dug 
down  and  down  as  far  as  I  could  reach. 

"  Then,"  said  Mr.  Crowder,  looking  at  us 
as  he  spoke,  "  I  found  the  box." 

A  great  sigh  of  relief  came  from  Mrs. 
Crowder. 

"  I  was  so  afraid,"  said  she  —  "I  was  so 
afraid  it  had  sunk  out  of  reach." 

"  No,"  said  he ;  "  its  weight  had  probably 
made  it  settle  down,  and  then  the  dust  of 
ages,  as  I  remarked  before,  had  accumulated 
over  it.  That  sort  of  thing  is  going  on  in 
Rome  all  the  time.  But  I  found  my  box, 
and,  after  hours  and  hours  of  wandering,  I 
got  out  of  the  catacombs." 

"  How  was  that  ?  "  we  both  asked. 

"  I  was  so  excited  at  the  recovery  of  my 
treasures  after  the  lapse  of  three  centuries 
that  when  I  turned  into  the  first  passage  I 
forgot  to  count  those  which  crossed  it,  and 
my  mind  became  so  thoroughly  mixed  up  in 
regard  to  this  labyrinth  that  I  don't  know 
140 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

when  I  would  have  found  my  way  out  if  I 
had  not  heard  a  little  animal  —  I  don't  know 
what  it  was  —  scurrying  away  in  front  of 
me.  I  followed  it,  and  eventually  saw  a 
little  speck  of  light.  That  proved  to  be 
the  hole  through  which  I  had  come  in." 

"  What  did  thee  do  with  the  jewels  ? " 
asked  Mrs.  Crowder. 

Her  husband  looked  at  his  watch,  and 
then  held  it  with  the  face  toward  her. 

She  gave  a  cry  of  surprise,  and  we  all 
went  up-stairs  to  bed. 


141 


OW,  my  dear,"  said  Mrs.  Crow- 
der,  the  moment  we  had  finished 
dinner  on  the  next  evening,  "  I 
want  thee  to  tell  us  immediately 
what  thee  did  with  the  jewels.  I  have 
been  thinking  about  that  all  day;  and  I 
believe,  if  I  had  been  with  thee,  I  could 
have  given  thee  some  good  advice,  so  that 
the  money  thee  received  for  these  treasures 
would  have  lasted  thee  a  long  time." 

"  I  have  thought  on  that  subject  many 
times,"  said  Mr.  Crowder,  "  not  only  in  re 
gard  to  this  case,  but  others,  and  have 
formed  hundreds  of  plans  for  carrying  my 
possessions  into  another  set  of  social  con 
ditions;  but  the  fact  of  being  obliged  to 
change  my  identity  always  made  it  impossi 
ble  for  me  to  avail  myself  of  the  advantages 
142 


THE   VIZIER  OF  ALEXANDER 

of  commercial  paper,  legal  deeds,  and  all 
titles  to  property." 

"  Thee  might  have  put  thy  wealth  into 
solid  gold  —  great  bars  and  lumps.  Those 
would  be  available  in  any  country  and  in 
any  age,  and  they  would  n't  have  had  any 
thing  to  do  with  thy  identity,"  said  his  wife. 

"  It  was  always  difficult  for  me  to  carry 
about  or  even  conceal  such  golden  trea 
sures,  but  I  have  sometimes  done  it.  How 
ever,  as  you  are  in  such  a  hurry  to  hear 
about  the  jewels,  I  will  let  all  other  subjects 
drop.  When  I  reached  my  lodgings  in 
Rome,  I  opened  the  box,  and  found  every 
thing  perfect;  the  writing  on  the  sheets  of 
parchment  was  still  black  and  perfectly  leg 
ible,  and  the  jewels  looked  just  as  they  did 
when  I  put  them  into  the  box." 

"  I  cannot  imagine,"  interrupted  Mrs. 
Crowder,  "  how  thee  remembered  what  they 
looked  like  after  the  lapse  of  three  hundred 
years." 

Mr.  Crowder  smiled.     "  You  forget,"  he 

said,  "that  since   I  first  reached  the  age  of 

fifty-three  there  has  been  no  radical  change 

in  me,  physical  or  mental.     My  memory  is 

143 


THE  VIZIER   OF  THE 

just  as  good  now  as  it  was  when  I  reached  my 
fifty-third  birthday,  in  the  days  of  Abraham. 
It  is  impossible  for  me  to  forget  anything  of 
importance,  and  I  remembered  perfectly  the 
appearance  of  those  gems.  But  my  know 
ledge  of  such  things  had  been  greatly  im 
proved  by  time  and  experience,  and  after  I 
had  spent  an  hour  or  two  looking  over  my 
treasures,  I  felt  sure  that  they  were  far  more 
valuable  than  they  were  when  they  came 
into  my  possession.  In  fact,  it  was  a  re 
markable  collection  of  precious  stones,  con 
sidering  it  in  regard  to  its  historic  as  well  as 
its  intrinsic  value. 

"  I  shall  not  attempt  to  describe  my  various 
plans  for  disposing  of  my  treasures;  but  I 
soon  found  that  it  would  not  be  wise  for  me 
to  try  to  sell  them  in  Rome.  I  had  picked 
out  one  of  the  least  valuable  engraved  stones, 
and  had  taken  it  to  a  lapidary,  who  readily 
bought  it  at  his  own  valuation,  and  paid  me 
with  great  promptness;  but  after  he  had  se 
cured  it  he  asked  me  so  many  questions  about 
it,  particularly  how  I  had  come  into  posses 
sion  of  it,  that  I  was  very  sure  that  he  had 
made  a  wonderful  bargain,  and  was  also  con- 
144 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

vinced  that  it  would  not  do  for  me  to  take 
any  more  of  my  gems  to  him.  Those  Roman 
experts  knew  too  much  about  antique  jewels. 

"  I  went  to  Naples,  where  I  had  a  similar 
experience.  Then  I  found  it  would  be  well 
for  me,  if  I  did  not  wish  to  be  arrested  as  a 
thief  who  had  robbed  a  museum,  to  endeavor 
to  sell  my  collection  as  a  whole  in  some  other 
country.  As  a  professional  dealer  in  gems 
from  a  foreign  land  I  would  be  less  liable  to 
suspicion  than  if  I  endeavored  to  peddle  my 
jewels  one  at  a  time.  So  I  determined  to  go 
to  Madrid  and  try  to  sell  my  collection  there. 

"  When  I  reached  Spain  I  found  the  coun 
try  in  a  great  turmoil.  This  was  in  1808, 
when  Napoleon  was  on  the  point  of  invading 
Spain;  but  as  politicians,  statesmen,  and 
military  men  were  not  in  the  habit  of  buying 
ancient  gems,  I  still  hoped  that  I  might  be 
able  to  transact  the  business  which  had 
brought  me  to  the  country.  My  collection 
would  be  as  valuable  to  a  museum  then  as 
at  any  time ;  for  it  was  not  supposed  that  the 
French  were  coming  into  the  country  to 
ravage  and  destroy  the  great  institutions  of 
learning  and  art.  I  made  acquaintances  in 
s  145 


THE  VIZIER  OF  THE 

Madrid,  and  before  long  I  had  an  opportu 
nity  of  exhibiting  my  collection  to  a  well- 
known  dealer  and  connoisseur,  who  was  well 
acquainted  with  the  officers  of  the  Royal 
Museum.  I  thought  it  would  be  well  to 
sell  them  through  his  agency,  even  though 
I  paid  him  a  high  commission. 

"  If  I  should  say  that  this  man  was  as 
tounded  as  well  as  delighted  when  he  saw 
my  collection,  I  should  be  using  very  feeble 
expressions ;  for,  carried  away  by  his  enthu 
siasm,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  say  to  me  that 
it  was  the  most  valuable  collection  he  had 
ever  seen.  Even  if  the  stones  had  been 
worthless  in  themselves,  their  historic  value 
was  very  great.  Of  course  he  wanted  to 
know  where  I  had  obtained  these  treasures, 
and  I  informed  him  truthfully  that  I  had 
traveled  far  and  wide  in  order  to  gather 
them  together.  I  told  him  the  history  of 
many  of  them,  but  entirely  omitted  mention 
ing  anything  which  would  give  a  clue  to  the 
times  and  periods  when  I  had  come  into 
possession  of  them. 

"This  dealer  undertook  the  sale  of  my 
jewels.  We  arranged  them  in  a  handsome 
146 


TWO-HORNED   ALEXANDER 

box  lined  with  velvet  and  divided  into  com 
partments,  and  I  made  a  catalogue  of  them, 
copied  from  my  ancient  parchments - 
which  would  have  ruined  me  had  I  inadver 
tently  allowed  them  to  be  seen.  He  put 
himself  into  communication  with  the  officers 
of  the  museum,  and  I  left  the  matter  entirely 
in  his  hands. 

"  In  less  than  a  week  I  became  aware  that 
I  was  an  object  of  suspicion.  I  called  on 
the  dealer,  but  he  was  not  to  be  seen.  I 
found  that  I  was  shadowed  by  officers  of  the 
law.  I  wrote  to  the  dealer,  but  received  no 
answer.  One  evening,  when  I  returned  to 
my  lodgings,  I  found  that  they  had  been 
thoroughly  searched.  I  became  alarmed, 
and  the  conviction  forced  itself  upon  me 
that  the  sooner  I  should  escape  from  Madrid, 
the  better  for  me." 

"  What !  "  exclaimed  Mrs.  Crowder,  "  and 
leave  thy  jewels  behind  ?  Thee  certainly 
did  not  do  that ! " 

"  Ah,  my  dear,"  replied  her  husband,  "  you 

do  not  comprehend  the  situation.     It  was 

very  plain  that  the  authorities  of  the  museum 

did  not  believe  that  a  private  individual,  a 

147 


THE  VIZIER  OF  THE 

stranger,  was  likely  to  be  the  legitimate 
owner  of  these  treasures.  Had  my  case  been 
an  ordinary  one  I  should  have  courted  in 
vestigation;  but  how  could  I  prove  that  I 
had  been  an  honest  man  three  hundred  years 
before  ?  A  legal  examination,  not  so  much 
on  account  of  the  jewels,  but  because  of  the 
necessary  assertion  of  my  age,  would  have 
been  a  terrible  ordeal. 

"  I  hurried  to  the  dealer's  shop,  but  found 
it  closed.  Inquiring  of  a  woman  on  a 
neighboring  door-step,  I  was  informed  that 
the  dealer  had  been  arrested.  I  asked  no 
more.  I  did  not  return  to  my  lodgings, 
and  that  night  I  left  Madrid." 

I  could  not  repress  an  exclamation  of 
distress,  and  Mrs.  Crowder  cried :  "  Did 
thee  really  go  away  and  leave  thy  jewels  ? 
Such  a  thing  is  too  dreadful  to  think  of. 
But  perhaps  thee  got  them  again  ? " 

"  No,"  said  Mr.  Crowder;  "  I  never  saw 
them  again,  nor  ever  heard  of  them.  But 
now  that  it  is  impossible  for  any  one  to  be 
living  who  might  recognize  me,  I  hope  to 
go  to  Madrid  and  see  those  gems.  I  have 
no  doubt  that  they  are  in  the  museum." 
148 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

"And  I,"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Crowder  —  "I 
shall  go  with  thee ;  I  shall  see  them." 

"  Indeed  you  shall,"  said  her  husband, 
taking  her  affectionately  by  the  hand.  And 
then  he  turned  to  me.  "  You  may  think," 
said  he,  "that  I  was  too  timid,  that  I  was 
too  ready  to  run  away  from  danger;  but  it 
is  hard  for  any  one  but  myself  readily  to 
appreciate  my  horror  of  a  sentence  to  im 
prisonment  or  convict  labor  for  life." 

"  Oh,  horrible  !  "  said  his  wife,  with  tears 
in  her  eyes.  "  Then  thee  would  have  de 
spaired  indeed." 

"  No,"  said  he ;  "I  should  not  even  have 
had  that  consolation.  Despair  is  a  welcome 
to  death.  A  man  who  cannot  die  cannot 
truly  despair.  But  do  not  let  us  talk  upon 
such  a  melancholy  subject." 

"  No,  no,"  cried  Mrs.  Crowder ;  "  I  am 
glad  thee  left  those  wretched  jewels  behind 
thee.  And  thee  got  away  safely  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes ;  I  had  some  money  left.  I  trav 
eled  by  night  and  concealed  myself  by  day, 
and  so  got  out  of  Spain.  Soon  after  I 
crossed  the  Pyrenees  I  found  myself  penni 
less,  and  was  obliged  to  work  my  way." 
149 


THE   VIZIER  OF   THE 

"  Poverty  again  !  "  exclaimed  Mrs.  Crow- 
der.  "  It  is  dreadful  to  hear  so  much  of  it. 
If  thee  could  only  have  carried  away  with 
thee  one  of  thy  diamonds,  thee  might  have 
cracked  it  up  into  little  pieces,  and  thee 
might  have  sold  these,  one  at  a  time,  with 
out  suspicion." 

"  I  never  thought  of  being  a  vender  of 
broken  diamonds,  and  there  is  nothing  sus 
picious  about  honest  labor.  The  object  of 
my  present  endeavors  was  to  reach  England, 
and  I  journeyed  northward.  It  was  nearly  a 
month  after  I  had  entered  France  that  I  was 
at  a  little  village  on  the  Garonne,  repairing 
a  stone  wall  which  divided  a  field  from  the 
road,  and  I  assure  you  I  was  very  glad  to 
get  this  job. 

"  It  was  here  that  I  heard  of  the  near 
approach  of  Napoleon's  army  on  its  march 
into  Spain;  that  the  news  was  true  was 
quickly  proved,  for  very  soon  after  I  had  be 
gun  my  work  on  the  wall  the  country  to  the 
north  seemed  to  be  filled  with  cavalry,  in 
fantry,  artillery,  baggage-wagons,  and  every 
thing  that  pertained  to  an  army.  About 
noon  there  was  a  general  halt,  and  in  the 
150 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

field  the  wall  of  which  I  was  repairing  a 
body  of  officers  made  a  temporary  encamp 
ment. 

"  I  paid  as  little  apparent  attention  as  pos 
sible  to  what  was  going  on  around  me,  but 
proceeded  steadily  with  my  work,  although  I 
assure  you  I  had  my  eyes  wide  open  all  the 
time.  I  was  thinking  of  stopping  work  in 
order  to  eat  my  dinner,  which  I  had  with  me, 
when  a  party  of  officers  approached  me  on 
their  way  to  a  little  hill  in  the  field.  One  of 
them  stopped  and  spoke  to  me,  and  as  he 
did  so  the  others  halted  and  stood  together  a 
little  way  off.  The  moment  I  looked  at  the 
person  who  addressed  me  I  knew  him.  It 
was  Napoleon  Bonaparte." 

"  Then  thee  has  seen  the  great  Napoleon," 
almost  whispered  Mrs.  Crowder. 

"  And  very  much  disappointed  I  was  when 
I  beheld  him,"  remarked  her  husband.  "  I 
had  seen  portraits  of  him,  I  had  read  and 
heard  of  his  great  achievements,  and  I  had 
pictured  to  myself  a  hero.  Perhaps  my  ex 
perience  should  have  taught  me  that  heroes 
seldom  look  like  heroes,  but  for  all  that  I 
had  had  my  ideal,  and  in  appearance  this 
151 


THE  VIZIER  OF  THE 

man  fell  below  it.  His  face  was  of  an  olive 
color  which  was  unequally  distributed  over 
his  features ;  he  was  inclined  to  be  pudgy, 
and  his  clothes  did  not  appear  to  fit  him; 
but  for  all  that  he  had  the  air  of  a  man  who 
with  piercing  eyes  saw  his  way  before  him 
and  did  not  flinch  from  taking  it,  rough  as  it 
might  be.  4  You  seem  an  old  man  for  such 
work/  said  he,  '  but  if  you  are  strong  enough 
to  lift  those  stones  why  are  you  not  in  the 
army  ?  '  As  he  spoke  I  noticed  that  he  had 
not  the  intonation  of  a  true  Frenchman.  He 
had  the  accent  of  the  foreigner  that  he  was. 
"  '  Sire,'  said  I,  '  I  am  too  old  for  the  army, 
but  in  spite  of  my  age  I  must  earn  my  bread.' 
I  may  state  here  that  my  hair  and  beard  had 
been  growing  since  I  left  Madrid.  For  a 
moment  the  emperor  regarded  me  in  silence. 
'  Are  you  a  Frenchman  *?  '  said  he.  '  You 
speak  too  well  for  a  stone-mason,  and,  more 
over,  your  speech  is  that  of  a  foreigner  who 
has  studied  French.'  It  was  odd  that  each 
of  us  should  have  remarked  the  accent  of 
the  other,  but  I  was  not  amused  at  this;  I 
was  becoming  very  nervous.  '  Sire,'  said  I, 
'  I  come  from  Italy.'  '  Were  you  born 
152 


«WJ  wM  ;/^-'*4A 


"  '  WHY    ARE    YOU    NOT    IN    THE    ARMY  ?'  " 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

there?'  asked  he.  My  nervousness  increased. 
This  man  was  too  keen  a  questioner.  '  Sire/ 
I  replied,  '  I  was  born  in  the  country  south 
east  of  Rome.'  This  was  true  enough,  but 
it  was  a  long  way  southeast.  '  Do  you  speak 
Spanish  *? '  he  abruptly  asked. 

"  At  this  question  my  blood  ran  cold.  I 
had  had  enough  of  speaking  Spanish.  I  was 
trying  to  get  away  from  Spain  and  every 
thing  that  belonged  to  that  country ;  but  I 
thought  it  safest  to  speak  the  truth,  and  I 
answered  that  I  understood  the  language. 
The  emperor  now  beckoned  to  one  of  his 
officers,  and  ordered  him  to  talk  with  me  in 
Spanish.  I  had  been  in  Spain  in  the  early 
part  of  the  preceding  century,  and  I  had 
there  learned  to  speak  the  pure  Castilian 
tongue,  so  that  when  the  officer  talked  with 
me  I  could  see  that  he  was  surprised,  and 
presently  he  told  the  emperor  that  he  had 
never  heard  any  one  who  spoke  such  excel 
lent  Spanish.  The  emperor  fixed  his  eyes 
upon  me.  4  You  must  have  traveled  a  great 
deal/  he  said.  '  You  should  not  be  wasting 
your  time  with  stones  and  mortar.'  Then, 
turning  to  the  officer  who  had  spoken  to  me, 
155 


THE   VIZIER  OF   THE 

he  said,  c  He  understands  Spanish  so  well 
that  we  may  make  him  useful.'  He  was 
about  to  address  me  again,  but  was  inter 
rupted  by  the  arrival  of  an  orderly  with  a 
despatch.  This  he  read  hastily,  and  walked 
toward  the  officers  who  were  waiting  for  him; 
but  before  he  left  me  he  ordered  me  to  re 
port  myself  at  his  tent,  which  was  not  far 
off  in  the  field.  He  then  walked  away,  evi 
dently  discussing  the  despatch,  which  he  still 
held  open  in  his  hand. 

"  Now  I  was  again  plunged  into  the 
deepest  apprehension  and  fear.  I  did  not 
want  to  go  back  to  Spain,  not  knowing 
what  might  happen  to  me  there.  Every 
evil  thing  was  possible.  I  might  be  recog 
nized,  and  the  emperor  might  not  care  to 
shield  any  one  claimed  by  the  law  as  an  es 
caped  thief.  In  an  instant  I  saw  all  sorts  of 
dreadful  possibilities.  I  determined  to  take 
no  chances.  The  moment  the  emperor's 
back  was  turned  upon  me  I  got  over  the 
broken  part  of  the  wall  and,  interfered  with 
by  no  one,  passed  quietly  along  the  road  to 
the  house  of  the  man  who  had  employed  me 
to  do  his  mason-work,  and  seeing  no  one 
156 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

there, —  for  every  window  and  door  was 
tightly  closed, —  I  walked  into  the  yard  and 
went  to  the  well,  which  was  concealed  from 
the  road  by  some  shrubbery.  I  looked 
quickly  about,  and  perceiving  that  I  was  not 
in  sight  of  any  one,  I  got  into  the  well  and 
went  down  to  the  bottom,  assisting  my 
descent  by  the  well-rope.  The  water  was 
about  five  feet  deep,  and  when  I  first  entered 
it,  it  chilled  me ;  but  nothing  could  chill  me 
so  much  as  the  thought  that  I  might  be 
taken  back  into  Spain,  no  matter  by  whom 
or  for  what.  I  must  admit  that  I  was  doing 
then,  and  often  had  done,  that  which  seemed 
very  much  like  cowardice ;  but  people  who 
can  die  cannot  understand  the  fear  which 
may  come  upon  a  person  who  has  not  that 
refuge  from  misfortune. 

"  For  the  rest  of  the  day  I  remained  in  the 
well,  and  when  people  came  to  draw  water 
—  and  this  happened  many  times  in  the 
course  of  the  afternoon  —  I  crouched  down 
as  much  as  I  could  ;  but  at  such  times  I 
would  have  been  concealed  by  the  descend 
ing  bucket,  even  if  any  one  had  chosen  to 
look  down  the  well.  This  bucket  was  a  heavy 
157 


THE  VIZIER  OF  THE 

one  with  iron  hoops,  and  I  had  a  great  deal  of 
trouble  sometimes  to  shield  my  head  from  it." 

"  I  should  think  thee  would  have  taken 
thy  death  of  cold,"  said  Mrs.  Crowder,  "  stay 
ing  in  that  cold  well  the  whole  afternoon." 

"  No,"  said  her  husband,  with  a  smile ;  "  I 
was  not  afraid  of  that.  If  I  should  have 
taken  cold  I  knew  it  would  not  be  fatal,  and 
although  the  water  chilled  me  at  first,  I 
became  used  to  it.  An  hour  or  two  after 
nightfall  I  clambered  up  the  well-rope, — 
and  it  was  not  an  easy  thing,  for  although 
not  stout,  I  am  a  heavy  man, —  and  I  got 
away  over  the  fields  with  all  the  rapidity 
possible.  I  did  not  look  back  to  see  if  the 
army  were  still  on  the  road,  nor  did  I  ever 
know  whether  I  had  been  searched  for  or 
had  been  forgotten. 

"  I  shall  not  describe  the  rest  of  my  jour 
ney.  There  is  nothing  remarkable  about  it 
except  that  it  was  beset  with  many  hard 
ships.  I  made  my  way  into  Switzerland  and 
so  on  down  the  Rhine,  and  it  was  nearly 
seven  months  after  I  left  Madrid  before  I 
reached  England. 

"  I  remained  many  years  in  Great  Britain, 
158 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

living  here  and  there,  and  was  greatly  in 
terested  in  the  changes  and  improvements  I 
saw  around  me.  You  can  easily  understand 
this  when  I  tell  you  it  was  in  1512,  twenty 
years  after  the  discovery  of  America,  that  I 
had  last  been  in  England.  I  do  not  believe 
that  in  any  other  part  of  the  world  the  changes 
in  three  hundred  years  could  have  been  more 
marked  and  impressive. 

"  I  had  never  visited  Ireland,  and  as  I  had 
a  great  desire  to  see  that  country.  I  made 
my  way  there  as  soon  as  possible,  and  after 
visiting  the  most  noted  spots  of  the  island  I 
settled  down  to  work  as  a  gardener." 

"  Always  poor,"  ejaculated  Mrs.  Crowder, 
with  a  sigh. 

"  No,  not  always,"  answered  her  husband. 
"  But  wandering  sight-seers  cannot  be  ex 
pected  to  make  much  money.  At  this  time 
I  was  very  glad  indeed  to  cease  from  roving 
and  enjoy  the  comforts  of  a  home,  even 
though  it  were  a  humble  one.  The  family 
with  whom  I  took  service  was  that  of  Maria 
Edgeworth,  who  lived  with  her  father  in 
Edgeworthstown." 

"What!"  cried  Mrs.  Crowder,  "'Lazy 
159 


THE  VIZIER   OF  THE 

Lawrence,'  '  Simple  Susan,'  and  all  the  rest 
of  them  ?  Was  it  that  Miss  Edgeworth  ?  " 
"  Certainly,"  said  he ;  "  there  never  was 
but  one  Maria  Edgeworth,  and  I  don't  think 
there  ever  will  be  another.  I  soon  became 
very  well  acquainted  with  Miss  Edgeworth. 
Her  father  was  a  studious  man  and  a  magis 
trate.  He  paid  very  little  attention  to  the 
house  and  garden,  the  latter  of  which  was 
almost  entirely  under  the  charge  of  his 
daughter  Maria.  She  used  to  come  out 
among  the  flower-beds  and  talk  to  me,  and 
as  my  varied  experience  enabled  me  to  tell 
her  a  great  deal  about  fruits,  flowers,  and 
vegetables,  she  became  more  and  more  in 
terested  in  what  I  had  to  tell  her.  She  was 
a  plain,  sensible  woman,  anxious  for  infor 
mation,  and  she  lived  in  a  very  quiet  neigh 
borhood  where  she  did  not  often  have 
opportunities  of  meeting  persons  of  intelli 
gence  and  information.  But  when  she 
found  out  that  I  could  tell  her  so  many 
things,  not  only  about  plants  but  about  the 
countries  where  I  had  known  them,  she 
would  sometimes  spend  an  hour  or  two  with 
me,  taking  notes  of  what  I  said. 
160 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

"  During  the  time  that  I  was  her  gardener 
she  wrote  the  story  of  '  The  Little  Mer 
chants,'  and  as  she  did  not  know  very  much 
about  Italy  and  Naples,  I  gave  her  most  of 
the  points  for  that  highly  moral  story.  She 
told  me,  in  fact,  that  she  did  not  believe  she 
could  have  written  it  had  it  not  been  for  my 
assistance.  She  thought  well  to  begin  the 
story  by  giving  some  explanatory  '  Extracts 
from  a  Traveler's  Journal '  relative  to  Italian 
customs,  but  afterward  she  depended  en 
tirely  on  me  for  all  points  concerning  dis 
tinctive  national  characteristics  and  the  gen 
eral  Italian  atmosphere.  As  she  became 
aware  that  I  was  an  educated  man  and  had 
traveled  in  many  countries,  she  was  curious 
about  my  antecedents,  but  of  course  my  re 
marks  in  that  direction  were  very  guarded. 

"  One  day,  as  she  was  standing  looking  at 
me  as  I  was  pruning  a  rose-bush,  she  made  a 
remark  which  startled  me.  I  perfectly  re 
member  her  words.  '  It  seems  to  me,'  she 
said,  '  that  one  who  is  so  constantly  engaged 
in  observing  and  encouraging  the  growth 
and  development  of  plants  should  himself 
grow  and  develop.  Roses  of  one  year  are 
161 


THE  VIZIER  OF  THE 

generally  better  than  those  of  the  year  before. 
Then  why  is  not  the  gardener  better?'  To 
these  words  she  immediately  added,  being  a 
woman  of  kind  impulses,  'But  in  the  case 
of  a  good  gardener,  such  as  you  are,  I  've 
no  doubt  he  does  grow  better,  year  by 
year.' " 

"  What  was  there  startling  in  that  little 
speech  *?  "  asked  Mrs.  Crowder.  "  I  don't 
think  she  could  have  said  anything  less." 

"  I  will  tell  you  why  I  was  startled,"  said 
her  husband.  "  Almost  those  very  words  - 
mark  me,  almost  those  very  words  —  had 
been  said  to  me  when  I  was  working  in  the 
wonderful  gardens  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  and 
he  was  standing  by  me  watching  me  prune 
a  rose-bush.  That  Maria  Edgeworth  and 
the  great  Nebuchadnezzar  should  have  said 
the  same  thing  to  me  was  enough  to  startle 
me." 

To  this  astounding  statement  Mrs.  Crow 
der  and  I  listened  with  wide-open  eyes. 

"  Yes,"   said  Mr.   Crowder ;    "  you    may 
think   it  amazing  that  a  very  ordinary  re 
mark  should  connect  4  The  Parents'  Assis 
tant'  with   the  city  of  Babylon,  but  so  it 
162 


TWO-HORNED   ALEXANDER 

was.  In  the  course  of  my  life  I  have  noticed 
coincidences  quite  as  strange. 

"  I  spent  many  years  in  the  city  of  Baby 
lon,  but  the  wonderful  Hanging  Gardens  in 
terested  me  more  than  anything  else  the 
great  city  contained.  At  the  time  of  which 
I  have  just  spoken  I  was  one  of  Nebuchad 
nezzar's  gardeners,  but  not  in  the  humble 
position  which  I  afterward  filled  in  Ireland. 
I  had  under  my  orders  fifteen  slaves,  and  my 
principal  duty  was  to  direct  the  labors  of 
these  poor  men.  These  charming  gardens, 
resting  upon  arches  high  above  the  surface 
of  the  ground,  watered  by  means  of  pipes 
from  the  river  Euphrates,  and  filled  with  the 
choicest  flowers,  shrubs,  and  plants  known 
to  the  civilization  of  the  time,  were  a  cease 
less  source  of  delight  to  me.  Often,  when 
I  had  finished  the  daily  work  assigned  to 
me  and  my  men,  I  would  wander  over 
other  parts  of  the  garden  and  enjoy  its  rare 
beauties. 

"  I  frequently  met  Nebuchadnezzar,  who 
for  the  time  enjoyed  his  gardens  almost  as 
much  as  I  did.  When  relieved  from  the 
cares  of  state  and  his  ambitious  plans,  and 

9  163 


THE  VIZIER  OF   THE 

while  walking  in  the  winding  paths  among 
sparkling  fountains  and  the  fragrant  flower 
beds,  he  seemed  like  a  very  ordinary  man, 
quiet  and  reflective,  with  very  good  ideas 
concerning  nature  and  architecture.  The 
latter  I  learned  from  his  frequent  remarks  to 
me.  I  suppose  it  was  because  I  appeared 
to  be  so  much  older  and  more  experienced 
than  most  of  those  who  composed  his  little 
army  of  gardeners  that  he  often  addressed 
me,  asking  questions  and  making  sugges 
tions;  and  it  was  one  afternoon,  standing 
by  me  as  I  was  at  work  in  a  rose-bed,  that 
he  said  the  words  which  were  spoken  to 
me  about  twenty-four  centuries  afterward 
by  Maria  Edgeworth.  Now,  was  n't  that 
enough  to  startle  a  man  *? " 

"  Startle  !  "  exclaimed  Mrs.  Crowder,  "  I 
should  have  screamed.  I  should  have 
thought  that  some  one  had  come  from  the 
dead  to  speak  to  me.  But  I  suppose  there 
was  nothing  about  Maria  Edgeworth  which 
reminded  thee  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  King  of 
Babylon." 

"  Yes,  there  was,"  replied  her  husband : 
"there  was  the  same  meditative  expression 
164 


NEBUCHADNEZZAR  AND  THE  GARDENER. 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

of  the  eyes ;  the  same  reflective  mood  as 
each  one  began  to  speak,  as  if  he  and  she 
were  merely  thinking  aloud;  the  same  quick, 
kind  reference  to  me,  as  if  the  speaker  feared 
that  my  feelings  might  have  been  hurt  by  a 
presumption  that  I  myself  had  not  developed 
and  improved. 

"  I  had  good  reason  to  remember  those 
words  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  for  they  were  the 
last  I  ever  heard  him  speak.  A  few  days 
afterward  I  was  informed  by  the  chief  gar 
dener  that  the  king  was  about  to  make  a 
journey  across  the  mountains  into  Media, 
and  that  he  intended  to  establish  there  what 
would  now  be  called  an  experimental  garden 
of  horticulture,  which  was  to  be  devoted  to 
growing  and  improving  certain  ornamental 
trees  which  did  not  flourish  in  the  Hanging 
Gardens  of  Babylon.  His  expedition  was  not 
to  be  undertaken  entirely  for  this  purpose, 
but  he  was  a  man  who  did  a  great  many 
things  at  once,  and  the  establishment  of 
these  experimental  grounds  was  only  one 
of  the  objects  of  his  journey. 

"  The  chief  gardener  then  went  on  to  say 
that  the  king  had  spoken  to  him  ^about  me 
167 


THE   VIZIER  OF  THE 

and  had  said  that  he  would  take  me  with 
him  and  perhaps  put  me  in  charge  of  the 
new  gardens. 

"  This  mark  of  royal  favor  did  not  please 
me  at  all.  I  had  hoped  that  I  might  ulti 
mately  become  the  chief  of  the  Babylonian 
gardens,  and  this  would  have  suited  me 
admirably.  It  was  a  position  of  profit  and 
some  honor,  and  when  I  thought  that  I  had 
lived  long  enough  in  that  part  of  the  world 
it  would  have  been  easy  for  me  to  make  a 
journey  into  the  surrounding  country  on 
some  errand  connected  with  the  business  of 
the  gardens,  and  then  quietly  to  disappear. 
But  if  I  were  to  be  taken  into  Media  it  might 
not  be  easy  for  me  to  get  away.  Therefore 
I  did  not  wait  to  see  Nebuchadnezzar  again 
and  receive  embarrassing  royal  commands, 
but  I  went  to  my  home  that  night,  and  re 
turned  no  more  to  the  wonderful  Hanging 
Gardens  of  Babylon." 

"  I  think  thee  was  a  great  deal  better  off 
in  the  gardens  of  Maria  Edgeworth,"  said 
Mrs.  Crowder,  "  for  there  thee  could  come 
and  go  as  thee  pleased,  and  it  almost  makes 
my  flesh  creep  when  I  think  of  thee  living  in 
168 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

company  with  the  bloody  tyrants  of  the  past. 
And  always  in  poverty  and  suffering,  as  if 
thee  had  been  one  of  the  common  people, 
and  not  the  superior  of  every  man  around 
thee !  I  don't  want  to  hear  anything  more 
about  the  wicked  Nebuchadnezzar.  How 
long  did  thee  stay  with  Maria  Edgeworth  *?  " 

"  About  four  years,"  he  replied ;  "  and  I 
might  have  remained  much  longer,  for  in 
that  quiet  life  the  advance  of  one's  years 
was  not  likely  to  be  noticed.  I  am  sure  Miss 
Edgeworth  looked  no  older  to  me  when  I 
left  her  than  when  I  first  saw  her.  But  she 
was  obliged  to  go  into  England  to  nurse  her 
sick  stepmother,  and  after  her  departure  the 
place  had  no  attractions  for  me,  and  I  left 
Ireland." 

"  I  wonder,"  said  Mrs.  Crowder,  a  little 
maliciously,  "  that  thee  did  not  marry  her." 

Her  husband  laughed. 

"  Englishwomen  of  her  rank  in  society 
do  not  marry  their  gardeners,  and,  besides, 
in  any  case,  she  would  not  have  suited 
me  for  a  wife.  For  one  reason,  she  was  too 
homely." 

44  Oh,"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Crowder,  and  she 
169 


THE   VIZIER  OF  THE 

might  have  said  more,  but  her  husband  did 
not  give  her  a  chance. 

"  I  know  I  have  talked  a  great  deal  about 
my  days  of  poverty  and  misery,  and  now  I 
will  tell  you  something  different.  For  a  time 
I  was  the  ruler  of  all  the  Russias." 

"  Ruler !  "  exclaimed  Mrs.  Crowder  and  I, 
almost  in  the  same  breath. 

"  Yes,"  said  he,  "  absolute  ruler.  And 
this  was  the  way  of  it : 

"  I  was  in  Russia  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  at  a  time  when  there 
was  great  excitement  in  royal  and  political 
circles.  The  young  czar  Feodor  had  recently 
died,  and  he  had  named  as  his  successor  his 
half-brother  Peter,  a  boy  ten  years  of  age, 
who  afterward  became  Peter  the  Great. 
The  late  czar's  young  brother  Ivan  should 
have  succeeded  him,  but  he  was  almost  an 
idiot.  In  this  complicated  state  of  things, 
the  half-sister  of  Peter,  the  Princess  Sophia, 
a  young  woman  of  wonderful  ambition  and 
really  great  abilities,  rose  to  the  occasion. 
She  fomented  a  revolution;  there  was  fight 
ing,  with  all  sorts  of  cruelties  and  horrors, 
and  when  affairs  had  quieted  down  she  was 
170 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

princess  regent,  while  the  two  boys,  Ivan 
and  Peter,  were  waiting  to  see  what  would 
happen  next. 

"She  was  really  a  woman  admirably 
adapted  to  her  position.  She  was  well  edu 
cated,  wrote  poetry,  and  knew  how  to  play 
her  part  in  public  affairs.  She  presided  in 
the  councils,  and  her  authority  was  without 
control;  but  she  was  just  as  bloody-minded 
and  cruel  as  anybody  else  in  Russia. 

"Now,  it  so  happened  when  the  Princess 
Sophia  was  at  the  height  of  her  power,  that 
I  was  her  secretary.  For  five  or  six  years  I 
had  been  a  teacher  of  languages  in  Moscow, 
and  at  one  time  I  had  given  lessons  to  the 
princess.  In  this  way  she  had  become  well 
acquainted  with  me,  and  having  frequently 
called  upon  me  for  information  of  one  sort 
or  another,  she  concluded  to  make  me  her 
secretary.  Thus  I  was  established  at  the 
court  of  Russia.  I  had  charge  of  all  Sophia's 
public  papers,  and  I  often  had  a  good  deal 
to  do  with  her  private  correspondence,  but  she 
signed  and  sealed  all  papers  of  importance. 

"  The  Prince  Galitzin,  who  had  been  her 
father's  minister  and  was  now  Sophia's  main 
171 


THE   VIZIER   OF  THE 

supporter  in  all  her  autocratic  designs  and 
actions,  found  himself  obliged  to  leave  Mos 
cow  to  attend  to  his  private  affairs  on  his 
great  estates,  and  to  be  absent  for  more  than 
a  month';  and  after  his  departure  the  princess 
depended  on  me  more  than  ever.  Like 
many  women  in  high  positions,  it  was  abso 
lutely  necessary  for  her  to  have  a  man  on 
whom  she  could  lean  with  one  hand  while 
she  directed  her  affairs  with  the  other." 

"  I  do  not  think  that  is  always  necessary," 
said  Mrs.  Crowder,  "  at  least,  in  these  days." 

"  Perhaps  not,"  said  her  husband,  with  a 
smile,  "  but  it  was  then.  But  I  must  get  on 
with  my  story.  One  morning  soon  after 
Galitzin's  departure,  the  horses  attached  to 
the  royal  sledge  ran  away  just  outside  of 
Moscow.  The  princess  was  thrown  out  upon 
the  hard  ground,  and  badly  dislocated  her 
right  wrist.  By  the  time  she  had  been  taken 
back  to  the  palace  her  arm  and  hand  were 
dreadfully  swollen,  and  it  was  difficult  for 
her  surgeons  to  do  anything  for  her. 

"  I  was  called  into  the  princess's  room  just 
after  the  three  surgeons  had  been  sent  to 
prison.  I  found  her  in  great  trouble,  mental 
172 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

as  well  as  physical,  and  her  principal  anxiety 
was  that  she  was  afraid  it  would  be  a  long 
time  before  she  would  be  able  to  use  her 
hand  and  sign  and  seal  the  royal  acts  and 
decrees.  She  had  a  certain  superstition 
about  this  which  greatly  agitated  her.  If 
she  could  not  sign  and  seal,  she  did  not  be 
lieve  she  would  be  able  to  rule.  Any  one 
who  understood  the  nature  of  the  political 
factions  in  Russia  well  knew  that  an  uprising 
among  the  nobles  might  occur  upon  any 
pretext,  and  no  pretext  could  be  so  power 
ful  as  the  suspicion  of  incompetency  in  the 
sovereign.  The  seat  of  a  ruler  who  did  not 
rule  was  extremely  uncertain. 

"  At  that  moment  a  paper  of  no  great  im 
portance,  which  had  been  sent  in  to  her 
before  she  went  out  in  her  sledge  that  morn 
ing,  was  lying  on  the  table  near  her  couch, 
and  she  was  greatly  worried  because  she 
could  not  sign  it.  I  assured  her  she  need 
not  trouble  herself  about  it,  for  I  could 
attend  to  it.  I  had  often  affixed  her  initials 
and  seal  to  unimportant  papers. 

"  The  princess  did  not  object  to  my  prop 
osition,  but  this  was  not  enough  for  her. 
173 


THE   VIZIER  OF   THE 

She  had  a  deep  mind,  and  she  quickly  con 
cocted  a  scheme  by  which  her  public  busi 
ness  should  be  attended  to,  while  at  the  same 
time  it  should  not  be  known  that  she  did  not 
attend  to  it.  She  caused  it  to  be  given  out 
that  it  was  her  ankle  which  had  been  in 
jured,  and  not  her  wrist.  She  sent  for 
another  surgeon,  and  had  him  locked  up  in 
the  palace  when  he  was  not  attending  to  her, 
so  that  he  should  tell  no  tales.  Her  ladies 
were  informed  that  it  would  be  very  well 
for  them  to  keep  silent,  and  they  understood 
her.  Then  she  arranged  with  me  that  all 
public  business  should  be  brought  to  her; 
that  I  should  sign  and  seal  in  her  place,  and 
should  be  her  agent  of  communication  with 
the  court. 

"  When  this  plan  had  been  settled  upon, 
the  princess  regained  something  of  her  usual 
good  spirits.  'As  I  never  sign  my  name 
with  my  toes/  she  said  to  me,  '  there  is  no 
reason  why  a  sprained  ankle  should  interfere 
with  my  royal  functions,  and,  for  the  pres 
ent,  you  can  be  my  right  hand.' 

"  This  was  a  very  fine  plan,  but  it  did  not 
work  as  she  expected  it  would.  Her  wrist 
174 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

became  more  and  more  painful,  and  fever 
set  in,  and  on  the  second  day,  when  I  called 
upon  her,  I  found  she  was  in  no  condition  to 
attend  to  business.  She  was  irritable  and 
drowsy.  '  Don't  annoy  me  with  that  paper,' 
she  said.  '  If  the  wool-dealers  ought  to  have 
their  taxes  increased,  increase  them.  You 
should  not  bring  these  trifles  to  me  ;  but '  - 
and  now  she  regained  for  a  moment  her  old 
acuteness  — '  remember  this :  don't  let  my 
administration  stop/ 

"  I  understood  her  very  well,  and  when  I 
left  her  I  saw  my  course  plain  before  me. 
It  was  absolutely  necessary  that  the  exercise 
of  royal  functions  by  the  Princess  Sophia 
should  appear  to  go  on  in  its  usual  way; 
any  stoppage  would  be  a  signal  for  a  revo 
lution.  In  order  that  this  plan  should  be 
carried  out,  I  must  act  for  the  princess 
regent;  I  must  do  what  I  thought  right,  and 
it  must  be  done  in  her  name,  exactly  as  if 
she  had  ordered  it.  I  assumed  the  respon 
sibilities  without  hesitation.  While  it  was 
supposed  I  was  merely  the  private  secretary  of 
the  princess,  acting  as  her  agent  and  mouth 
piece,  I  was  in  fact  the  ruler  of  all  the  Russias." 
175 


THE   VIZIER  OF   THE 

Mrs.  Crowder  opened  her  mouth  as  if  she 
would  gasp  for  breath,  but  she  did  not  say 
anything. 

"You  can  scarcely  imagine,  my  dear," 
said  he,  "  the  delight  with  which  I  assumed 
the  powers  so  suddenly  thrust  upon  me.  I 
set  myself  to  work  without  delay,  and,  as  I 
knew  all  about  the  wool-dealers'  business, 
I  issued  a  royal  decree  decreasing  their  taxes. 
Poor  creatures  !  they  were  suffering  enough 
already." 

14  Good  for  thee  ! "  exclaimed  Mrs.  Crow 
der. 

"  I  cannot  tell  you  of  all  the  reforms  I  de 
vised,  or  even  those  which  I  carried  out.  I 
knew  that  the  fever  of  the  princess,  aggra 
vated  by  the  inflammation  of  her  dislo 
cated  wrist,  would  continue  for  some  time, 
and  I  bent  all  my  energies  to  the  work 
of  doing  as  much  good  as  I  could  in  the 
vast  empire  under  my  control  while  I  had 
the  opportunity.  And  it  was  a  great  op 
portunity,  indeed !  I  did  not  want  to  do 
anything  so  radical  as  to  arouse  the  opposi 
tion  of  the  court,  and  therefore  I  directed 
my  principal  efforts  to  the  amelioration  of 
176 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

the  condition  of  the  people  in  the  provinces. 
It  would  be  a  long  time  before  word  could 
get  back  to  the  capital  of  what  I  had  done 
in  those  distant  regions.  By  night  and  by 
day  my  couriers  were  galloping  in  every 
direction,  carrying  good  news  to  the  peas 
ants  of  Russia.  It  was  remarked  by  some 
of  the  councilors,  when  they  spoke  of  the 
municipal  reforms  I  instituted,  that  the  prin 
cess  seemed  to  be  in  a  very  humane  state  of 
mind ;  but  none  of  them  cared  to  interfere 
with  what  they  supposed  to  be  the  sick-bed 
workings  of  her  conscience.  So  I  ruled 
with  a  high  hand,  astonishing  the  provincial 
officials,  and  causing  thousands  of  down 
trodden  subjects  to  begin  to  believe  that  per 
haps  they  were  really  human  beings,  with 
some  claim  on  royal  justice  and  kindness. 
"  I  fairly  reveled  in  my  imperial  power, 
but  I  never  forgot  to  be  prudent.  I  lessened 
the  duties  and  slightly  increased  the  pay  of 
the  military  regiments  stationed  in  and  about 
Moscow,  and  thus  the  Princess  Sophia  be 
came  very  popular  with  the  army,  and  I  felt 
safe.  I  went  in  to  see  the  princess  every 
day,  and  several  times  when  she  was  in  her 
177 


THE  VIZIER   OF  THE 

right  mind  she  asked  me  if  everything  was 
going  on  well,  and  once  when  I  assured  her 
that  all  was  progressing  quietly  and  satisfac 
torily,  she  actually  thanked  me.  This  was  a 
good  deal  for  a  Russian  princess.  If  she  had 
known  how  the  people  were  thanking  her,  I 
do  not  know  what  would  have  happened. 

"  For  twenty-one  days  I  reigned  over 
Russia.  If  I  had  been  able  to  do  it,  I 
should  have  made  each  day  a  year;  I  felt 
that  I  was  in  my  proper  place." 

"  And  thee  was  right,"  said  Mrs.  Crowder, 
her  eyes  sparkling.  "  I  believe  that  at  that 
time  thee  was  the  only  monarch  in  the  world 
who  was  worthy  to  reign."  And  with  a 
loyal  pride,  as  if  he  had  just  stepped  from  a 
throne,  she  put  her  hand  upon  his  arm. 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  Crowder,  "I  honestly 
believe  that  I  was  a  good  monarch,  and  I  will 
admit  that  in  those  days  such  personages 
were  extremely  scarce.  So  my  imperial 
sway  proceeded  with  no  obstruction  until  I 
was  informed  that  Prince  Galitzin  was  has 
tening  to  Moscow,  on  his  return  from  his 
estates,  and  was  then  within  three  days'  jour 
ney  of  the  capital.  Now  I  prepared  to  lay 
178 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

down  the  tremendous  power  which  I  had 
wielded  with  such  immense  satisfaction  to 
myself,  and  with  such  benefit,  I  do  not  hesi 
tate  to  say,  to  the  people  of  Russia.  The 
effects  of  my  rule  are  still  to  be  perceived  in 
some  of  the  provinces  of  Russia,  and  decrees 
I  made  more  than  two  hundred  years  ago 
are  in  force  in  many  villages  along  the  east 
ern  side  of  the  Volga. 

"  The  day  before  Prince  Galitzin  was  ex 
pected,  I  visited  Sophia  for  the  last  time. 
She  was  a  great  deal  better,  and  much 
pleased  by  the  expected  arrival  of  her  min 
ister.  She  even  gave  me  some  commands, 
but  when  I  left  her  I  did  not  execute  them. 
I  would  not  have  my  reign  sullied  by  any 
of  her  mandates.  That  afternoon,  in  a  royal 
sledge,  with  the  royal  permission,  given  by 
myself,  to  travel  where  and  how  I  pleased,  I 
left  Moscow.  Frequent  relays  of  horses  car 
ried  me  rapidly  beyond  danger  of  pursuit, 
and  so,  in  course  of  time,  I  passed  the  boun 
daries  of  the  empire  of  Russia,  over  which 
for  three  weeks  I  had  ruled,  an  absolute 
autocrat." 

"Does  thee  know,"  said  Mrs.  Crowder, 
179 


THE   VIZIER   OF  ALEXANDER 

44  that  two  or  three  times  I  expected  thee  to 
say  that  thee  married  Sophia  *?  " 

Mr.  Crowder  laughed.  44  That  is  truly 
a  wild  notion,"  said  he. 

44 1  don't  think  it  is  wild  at  all,"  she  re 
plied.  44  In  the  course  of  thy  life  thee  has 
married  a  great  many  plain  persons.  In 
some  ways  that  princess  would  have  suited 
thee  as  a  wife,  and  if  thee  had  really  married 
her  and  had  become  her  royal  consort,  like 
Prince  Albert,  thee  might  have  made  a  great 
change  in  her.  But,  after  all,  it  would  have 
been  a  pity  to  interfere  with  the  reign  of 
Peter  the  Great." 


180 


VI 

ND  what  did  thee  do  after  thee 
got  out  of  Russia  ?  "  asked  Mrs. 
Crowder,  the  next  evening. 

Her  husband  shook  his  head. 
"  No,  no,  my  dear ;  we  can't  go  on  with  my 
autobiography  in  that  fashion.  If  I  should 
take  up  my  life  step  by  step,  there  would 
not  be  time  enough  —  "  There  he  stopped, 
but  I  am  sure  we  both  understood  his  mean 
ing.  There  would  be  plenty  of  time  for  him  ! 
"Often  and  often,"  said  Mr.  Crowder, 
after  a  few  minutes'  silence,  "have  I  deter 
mined  to  adopt  some  particular  profession, 
and  continue  its  practice  wherever  I  might 
find  myself;  but  in  this  I  did  not  succeed 
very  well.  Frequently  I  was  a  teacher,  but 
not  for  many  consecutive  years.  Something 
or  other  was  sure  to  happen  to  turn  my 
energies  into  other  channels." 
181 


THE   VIZIER   OF  THE 

"  Such  as  falling  in  love  with  thy  schol 
ars,"  said  his  wife. 

"  You  have  a  good  memory,"  he  replied. 
"  That  sometimes  happened ;  but  there  were 
other  reasons  which  turned  me  away  from 
the  paths  of  the  pedagogue.  With  my 
widely  extended  opportunities,  I  naturally 
came  to  know  a  good  deal  of  medicine  and 
surgery.  Frequently  I  had  been  a  doctor 
in  spite  of  myself,  and  as  far  back  as  the 
days  of  the  patriarchs  I  was  called  upon  to 
render  aid  to  sick  and  ailing  people. 

"  In  the  days  when  I  lived  in  a  cave  and 
gained  a  reputation  as  a  wise  and  holy  her 
mit,  more  people  came  to  me  to  get  relief 
from  bodily  ailments  than  to  ask  for  spiri 
tual  counsel.  You  will  remember  that  I  told 
you  that  I  was  visited  at  that  time  by  Moses 
and  Joshua.  Moses  came,  I  truly  believe, 
on  account  of  his  desire  to  become  acquainted 
with  the  prophet  El  Khoudr,  of  whom  he 
had  heard  so  much ;  but  Joshua  wanted  to 
see  me  for  an  entirely  different  reason.  The 
two  remained  writh  me  for  about  an  hour, 
and  although  Moses  had  no  belief  in  me  as 
a  prophet,  he  asked  me  a  great  many  ques- 
182 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

tions,  and  I  am  sure  that  I  proved  to  him 
that  I  was  a  man  of  a  great  deal  of  informa 
tion.  He  had  a  keen  mind,  with  a  quick 
perception  of  the  motives  of  others,  and  in 
every  way  was  well  adapted  to  be  a  leader 
of  men. 

"  When  Moses  had  gone  away  to  a  tent 
about  a  mile  distant,  where  he  intended  to 
spend  the  night,  Joshua  remained,  and  as 
soon  as  his  uncle  was  out  of  sight,  he  told 
me  why  he  wished  to  see  me." 

"  His  uncle  !  "  exclaimed  Mrs.  Crowder. 

"  Certainly,"  said  her  husband ;  "  Joshua 
was  the  son  of  Nun  and  of  Miriam,  and 
Miriam  was  the  sister  of  Moses  and  Aaron. 
What  he  now  wanted  from  me  was  medical 
advice.  For  some  time  he  had  been  afflicted 
with  rheumatism  in  his  left  leg,  which  came 
upon  him  after  exposure  to  the  damp  and 
cold. 

"  Now,  this  was  a  very  important  thing 
to  Joshua.  He  was  a  great  favorite  with 
Moses,  v/ho  intended  him,  as  we  all  know, 
to  be  his  successor  as  leader  of  the  people 
and  of  the  army.  Joshua  was  essentially  a 
soldier;  he  was  quiet,  brave,  and  a  good 
183 


THE  VIZIER  OF  THE 

disciplinarian;  in  fact,  he  had  all  the  quali 
ties  needed  for  the  position  he  expected  to 
fill :  but  he  was  not  young,  and  if  he  should 
become  subject  to  frequent  attacks  of  rheu 
matism,  it  is  not  likely  that  Moses,  who  had 
very  rigid  ideas  of  his  duties  to  his  people, 
would  be  willing  to  place  at  their  head  a 
man  who  might  at  any  time  be  incapacitated 
from  taking  his  proper  place  on  the  field  of 
battle.  So  Joshua  had  never  mentioned  his 
ailment  to  his  uncle,  hoping  that  he  might 
be  relieved  of  it,  and  having  heard  that  I  was 
skilled  in  such  matters,  now  wished  my  advice. 
"  I  soon  found  that  his  ailment  was  a  very 
ordinary  one,  which  might  easily  be  kept 
under  control,  if  not  cured,  and  I  proceeded 
at  once  to  apply  remedies.  I  will  just 
mention  that  in  those  days  remedies  were 
generally  heroic,  and  I  think  you  will  agree 
with  me  when  I  tell  you  how  I  treated 
Joshua.  I  first  rubbed  his  aching  muscles 
with  fine  sand,  keeping  up  a  friction  until 
his  skin  was  in  a  beautiful  glow.  Then  I 
brought  out  from  the  back  part  of  my  cave, 
where  I  kept  my  medicines,  a  jar  containing 
a  liniment  which  I  had  made  for  such  pur- 
184 


TWO-HORNED   ALEXANDER 

poses.  It  was  composed  of  oil,  in  which 
had  been  steeped  the  bruised  fruit  or  pods 
of  a  plant  very  much  resembling  the  Ta 
basco  pepper-plant." 

"  Whoop  !  "  I  exclaimed  involuntarily. 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  Crowder,  "and  Joshua 
'  whooped '  too.  But  it  was  a  grand  lini 
ment,  especially  when  applied  upon  skin 
already  excited  by  rubbing  with  sand.  He 
jumped  at  first,  but  he  was  a  soldier,  and  he 
bore  the  application  bravely. 

"  I  saw  him  again  the  next  day,  and  he 
assured  me  with  genuine  pleasure  that  every 
trace  of  the  rheumatism  had  disappeared.  I 
gave  him  some  of  my  liniment,  and  also 
showed  him  some  of  the  little  pepper  pods, 
so  that  he  might  procure  them  at  any  time 
in  the  future  when  he  should  need  them. 

"  It  was  more  than  twenty  years  after  this 
that  I  again  met  Joshua.  He  was  then  an 
elderly  man,  but  still  a  vigorous  soldier. 
He  assured  me  that  he  had  used  my  remedy 
whenever  he  had  felt  the  least  twinges  of 
rheumatism,  and  that  the  disease  had  never 
interfered  with  the  performance  of  his  mili 
tary  duties. 

185 


THE   VIZIER  OF   THE 

"He  was  much  surprised  to  see  that  I 
looked  no  older  than  when  he  had  met  me 
before.  He  was  greatly  impressed  by  this, 
and  talked  a  good  deal  about  it.  He  told 
me  he  considered  himself  under  the  greatest 
obligations  to  me  for  what  I  had  done  for 
him,  and  as  he  spoke  I  could  see  that  a  hope 
was  growing  within  him  that  perhaps  I 
might  do  something  more.  He  presently 
spoke  out  boldly,  and  said  to  me  that  as  my 
knowledge  of  medicine  had  enabled  me  to 
keep  myself  from  growing  old,  perhaps  I 
could  do  the  same  thing  for  him.  Few  men 
had  greater  need  of  protecting  themselves 
against  the  advance  of  old  age.  His  work 
was  not  done,  and  years  of  bodily  strength 
were  necessary  to  enable  him  to  finish  it. 

"But  I  could  do  nothing  for  Joshua  in 
this  respect.  I  assured  him  that  my  apparent 
exemption  from  the  effects  of  passing  years 
was  perfectly  natural,  and  was  not  due  to 
drugs  or  medicaments. 

"Joshua  lived  many  years  after  that  day, 

and  did  a  good  deal  of  excellent  military 

work ;  but  his  life  was  not  long  enough  to 

satisfy  him.     He   fell  sick,  was  obliged  to 

186 


TWO-HORNED   ALEXANDER 

give  up  his  command  to  his  relative  Caleb, 
and  finally  died,  in  his  one  hundred  and 
twenty-eighth  year." 

44  Which  ought  to  satisfy  him,  I  should 
say,"  said  Mrs.  Crowder. 

14 1  have  never  yet  met  a  thoroughbred 
worker,"  said  Mr.  Crowder,  44  who  was  satis 
fied  to  stop  his  work  before  he  had  finished 
it,  no  matter  how  old  he  might  happen  to 
be.  But  my  last  meeting  with  Joshua  taught 
me  a  lesson  which  in  those  days  had  not 
been  sufficiently  impressed  upon  my  mind. 
I  became  convinced  that  I  must  not  allow 
people  to  think  that  I  could  live  along  for 
twenty  years  or  more  without  growing  older, 
and  after  that  I  gave  this  matter  a  great  deal 
more  attention  than  I  had  yet  bestowed  upon 
it." 

44  It  is  a  pity,"  said  Mrs.  Crowder,  "  that 
thy  life  should  have  been  marred  by  such 
constant  anxiety." 

44  Yes,"  said  he ;  44  but  this  is  a  suspicious 
world,  and  it  is  dangerous  for  a  man  to  set 
himself  apart  from  his  fellow-beings,  espe 
cially  if  he  does  it  in  some  unusual  fashion 
which  people  cannot  understand." 
187 


THE  VIZIER  OF  THE 

"  But  I  hope  now,"  said  his  wife,  "  that 
those  days  of  suspicion  are  entirely  past." 

Now  the  conversation  was  getting  awk 
ward  ;  it  could  not  be  pleasant  for  any  one 
of  us  to  talk  about  what  the  world  of  the 
future  might  think  of  Mr.  Crowder  when  it 
came  to  know  all  about  him,  and,  appre 
ciating  this,  my  host  quickly  changed  the 
subject. 

"  There  is  a  little  story  I  have  been  want 
ing  to  tell  you,"  said  he,  addressing  his  wife, 
"  which  I  think  would  interest  you.  It  is  a 
love-story  in  which  I  was  concerned." 

"  Oh ! "  said  Mrs.  Crowder,  looking  up 
quickly,  "  a  scholar  ?  " 

"  No,"  he  answered ;  "  not  this  time.  Early 
in  the  fourteenth  century  I  was  living  at 
Avignon,  in  the  south  of  France.  At  that 
time  I  was  making  my  living  by  copying 
law  papers.  You  see,  I  was  down  in  the 
world  again." 

Mrs.  Crowder  sighed,  but  said  nothing. 

"  One  Sunday  morning  I  was  in  the  Church 

of  St.  Claire,  and,  kneeling  a  little  in  front 

of  me,  I  noticed  a  lady  who  did  not  seem  to 

be  paying  the  proper  attention  to  her  devo- 

188 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

tions.  She  fidgeted  uneasily,  and  every  now 
and  then  she  would  turn  her  head  a  little  to 
the  right,  and  then  bring  it  back  quickly 
and  turn  it  so  much  in  my  direction  that  I 
could  see  the  profile  of  her  face.  She  was  a 
good-looking  woman,  not  very  young,  and 
evidently  nervous  and  disturbed. 

"Following  the  direction  of  her  quick 
gaze  when  she  again  turned  to  the  right,  I 
saw  a  young  man,  apparently  not  twenty- 
five  years  of  age,  and  dressed  in  sober  black. 
He  was  also  kneeling,  but  his  eyes  were 
steadfastly  fixed  upon  the  lady  in  front  of 
me,  and  I  knew,  of  course,  that  it  was  this 
continuous  gaze  which  was  disturbing  her.  I 
felt  very  much  disposed  to  call  the  attention 
of  a  priest  to  this  young  man  who  was  mak 
ing  one  of  the  congregation  unpleasantly 
conspicuous  by  staring  at  her ;  but  the  situa 
tion  was  brought  to  an  end  by  the  lady  her 
self,  who  suddenly  rose  and  went  out  of  the 
church.  She  had  no  sooner  passed  the  heavy 
leathern  curtain  of  the  door  than  the  young 
man  got  up  and  went  out  after  her.  Interested 
in  this  affair,  I  also  left  the  church,  and  in  the 
street  I  saw  the  lady  walking  rapidly  away, 
189 


THE  VIZIER   OF  THE 

with  the  young  man  at  a  respectful  distance 
behind  her. 

"  I  followed  on  the  other  side  of  the  street, 
determined  to  interfere  if  the  youth,  so  evi 
dently  a  stranger  to  the  lady,  should  accost 
her  or  annoy  her.  She  walked  steadily  on, 
not  looking  behind  her,  and  doubtless  hop 
ing  that  she  was  not  followed.  As  soon  as 
she  reached  another  church  she  turned  and 
entered  it.  Without  hesitation  the  young 
man  went  in  after  her,  and  then  I  followed. 

"As  before,  the  lady  knelt  on  the  pave 
ment  of  the  church,  and  the  young  man, 
placing  himself  not  very  far  from  her,  imme 
diately  began  to  stare  at  her.  I  looked 
around,  but  there  was  no  priest  near,  and 
then  I  advanced  and  knelt  not  very  far 
from  the  lady,  and  between  her  and  her  per 
sistent  admirer.  It  was  plain  enough  that 
he  did  not  like  this,  and  he  moved  forward 
so  that  he  might  still  get  a  view  of  her. 
Then  I  also  moved  so  as  to  obstruct  his 
view.  He  now  fixed  his  eyes  upon  me, 
and  I  returned  his  gaze  in  such  a  way  as  to 
make  him  understand  that  while  I  was  pres 
ent  he  would  not  be  allowed  to  annoy  a  lady 
190 


PETRARCH    AND    LAURA. 


TWO-HORNED   ALEXANDER 

who  evidently  wished  to  have  nothing  to  do 
with  him.  Presently  he  rose  and  went  out. 
It  was  evident  that  he  saw  that  it  was  no  use 
for  him  to  continue  his  reprehensible  con 
duct  while  I  was  present. 

"  I  do  not  know  how  the  lady  discovered 
that  her  unauthorized  admirer  had  gone 
away,  but  she  did  discover  it,  and  she  turned 
toward  me  for  an  instant  and  gave  me  what 
I  supposed  was  a  look  of  gratitude. 

"  I  soon  left  the  church,  and  I  had  scarcely 
reached  the  street  when  I  found  that  the 
lady  had  followed  me.  She  looked  at  me  as 
if  she  would  like  to  speak,  and  I  politely 
saluted  her.  4 1  thank  you,  kind  sir/  she 
said,  '  for  relieving  me  of  the  importunities 
of  that  young  man.  For  more  than  a  week 
he  has  followed  me  whenever  I  go  to  church, 
and  although  he  has  never  spoken  to  me,  his 
steady  gaze  throws  me  into  such  an  agita 
tion  that  I  cannot  think  of  my  prayers.  Do 
you  know  who  he  is,  sir  *? ' 

"  I  assured  her  that  I  had  never  seen  the 
youth  before  that  morning,  but  that  doubt 
less  I  could  find  out  all  about  him.  I  told 
her  that  I  was  acquainted  with  several  offi- 
193 


THE  VIZIER  OF  THE 

cers  of  the  law,  and  that  there  would  be  no 
difficulty  in  preventing  him  from  giving  her 
any  further  annoyance.  '  Oh,  don't  do  that ! ' 
she  said  quickly.  '  I  would  not  wish  to 
attract  attention  to  myself  in  that  way.  You 
seem  to  be  a  kind  and  fatherly  gentleman. 
Can  you  not  speak  to  the  young  man  him 
self  and  tell  him  who  I  am,  and  impress 
upon  his  mind  how  much  he  is  troubling 
me  by  his  inconsiderate  action  ? ' 

"  As  I  did  not  wish  to  keep  her  standing 
in  the  street,  we  now  walked  on  together, 
and  she  briefly  gave  me  the  facts  of  the  case. 

"  Her  name  was  Mme.  de  Sade :  she  had 
been  happily  married  for  two  years,  and 
never  before  had  she  been  annoyed  by  im 
pertinent  attentions  from  any  one;  but  in 
some  manner  unaccountable  to  her  this 
young  student  had  been  attracted  by  her, 
and  had  made  her  the  object  of  his  attention 
whenever  he  had  had  the  opportunity.  Not 
only  had  he  annoyed  her  at  church,  but 
twice  he  had  followed  her  when  she  had  left 
her  house  on  business,  thus  showing  that  he 
had  been  loitering  about  in  the  vicinity.  She 
had  not  yet  spoken  to  her  husband  in  the 
194 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

matter,  because  she  was  afraid  that  some 
quarrel  might  arise.  But  now  that  the  good 
angels  had  caused  her  to  meet  with  such  a 
kind-hearted  old  gentleman  as  myself,  she 
hoped  that  I  might  be  able  to  rid  her  of  the 
young  man  without  making  any  trouble. 
Surely  this  student,  who  seemed  to  be  a  re 
spectable  person,  would  not  think  of  such  a 
thing  as  fighting  me." 

"  Thee  must  have  had  a  very  long  white 
beard  at  that  time,"  interpolated  Mrs. 
Crowder. 

"  Yes,"  said  her  husband ;  "  I  was  in  one 
of  my  periods  of  venerable  age. 

" 1  left  Mme.  de  Sade,  promising  to  do 
what  I  could  for  her,  and  as  she  thanked  me 
I  could  not  help  wondering  why  the  hand 
some  young  student  had  made  her  the  ob 
ject  of  his  attention.  She  was  a  well-shaped, 
fairly  good-looking  woman,  with  fair  skin 
and  large  eyes ;  but  she  was  of  a  grave  and 
sober  cast  of  countenance,  and  there  was 
nothing  about  her  which  indicated  the  least 
of  that  piquancy  which  would  be  likely  to 
attract  the  eyes  of  a  youth.  She  seemed  to 
me  to  be  exactly  what  she  said  she  was- 
195 


THE  VIZIER  OF  THE 

the  quiet  and  respectable  lady  of  a  quiet  and 
respectable  household. 

"  In  the  course  of  the  afternoon  I  discov 
ered  the  name  and  residence  of  the  young 
man,  with  whom  I  had  determined  to  have 
an  interview.  His  name  was  Francesco 
Petrarca,  an  Italian  by  birth,  and  now  en 
gaged  in  pursuing  his  studies  in  this  place. 
I  called  upon  him  at  his  lodgings,  and,  for 
tunately,  found  him  at  home.  As  I  had  ex 
pected,  he  recognized  me  at  once  as  the 
elderly  person  who  had  interfered  with  him 
at  the  church ;  but,  as  I  did  not  expect,  he 
greeted  me  politely,  without  the  least  show 
of  resentment. 

"  I  took  the  seat  he  offered  me,  and  pro 
ceeded  to  deliver  a  lecture.  I  laid  before 
him  the  facts  of  the  case,  which  I  supposed 
he  might  not  know,  and  urged  him,  for  his 
own  sake,  as  well  as  for  that  of  the  lady,  to 
cease  his  annoying  and,  I  did  not  hesitate  to 
state,  ungentlemanly  pursuit  of  her. 

"  He  listened  to  me  with  respectful  atten 
tion,  and  when  I  had  finished  he  assured  me 
that  he  knew  even  more  about  Mme.  de 
Sade  than  I  did.  He  was  perfectly  aware 
196 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

that  she  was  a  religious  and  highly  esti 
mable  lady,  and  he  did  not  desire  to  do  any 
thing  which  would  give  her  a  moment's 
sorrow.  '  Then  stop  following  her,'  said  I, 
'  and  give  up  that  habit  of  staring  at  her  in 
such  a  way  as  to  make  her  the  object  of  at 
tention  to  everybody  around  her.'  '  That  is 
asking  too  much,'  answered  Master  Petrarca. 
4  That  lady  has  made  an  impression  upon  my 
soul  which  cannot  be  removed.  My  will 
would  have  no  power  to  efface  her  image 
from  my  constant  thought.  If  she  does  not 
wish  me  to  do  so,  I  shall  never  speak  a  word 
to  her;  but  I  must  look  upon  her.  Even 
when  I  sleep  her  face  is  present  in  my 
dreams.  She  has  aroused  within  me  the 
spirit  of  poetry ;  my  soul  will  sing  in  praise 
of  her  loveliness,  and  I  cannot  prevent  it. 
Let  me  read  to  you  some  lines/  he  said, 
picking  up  a  piece  of  manuscript  which  was 
lying  on  the  table.  '  It  is  in  Italian,  but  I 
will  translate  it  for  you.'  '  No,'  said  I ;  '  read 
it  as  it  is  written;  I  understand  Italian.' 
Then  he  read  the  opening  lines  of  a  sonnet 
which  was  written  to  Laura  in  the  shadow. 
He  read  about  six  lines  and  then  stopped. 
197 


THE   VIZIER  OF  THE 

4  It  is  not  finished/  he  said,  '  and  what  I  have 
written  does  not  altogether  satisfy  me ;  but 
you  can  judge  from  what  you  have  heard 
how  it  is  that  I  think  of  that  lady,  and  how 
impossible  it  is  that  I  can  in  any  way  banish 
her  from  my  mind,  or  willingly  from  my 
vision.' 

" '  How  did  you  come  to  know  that  her 
name  is  Laura  ?  '  I  asked.  '  I  found  it  out 
from  the  records  of  her  marriage,'  he  an 
swered. 

"  I  talked  for  some  time  to  this  young 
man,  but  failed  to  impress  him  with  the  con 
viction  that  his  conduct  was  improper  and 
unworthy  of  him.  I  found  means  to  inform 
Mme.  de  Sade  of  the  result  of  my  conversa 
tion  with  Petrarch, —  as  we  call  his  name  in 
English, —  and  she  appeared  to  be  satisfied 
that  the  young  student  would  soon  cease  his 
attentions,  although  I  myself  saw  no  reason 
for  such  belief. 

"  I  visited  the  love-lorn  young  man  several 
times,  for  I  had  become  interested  in  him, 
and  endeavored  to  make  him  see  how  foolish 
it  was  —  even  if  he  looked  upon  it  in  no 
other  light  —  to  direct  his  ardent  affections 
198 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

upon  a  lady  who  would  never  care  anything 
about  him,  and  who,  even  if  unmarried,  was 
not  the  sort  of  woman  who  was  adapted  to 
satisfy  the  lofty  affection  which  his  words 
and  his  verses  showed  him  to  possess. 

"'There  are  so  many  beautiful  women,'  said 
I,  '  any  one  of  whom  you  might  love,  of 
whom  you  might  sing,  and  to  whom  you  could 
indite  your  verses.  She  would  return  your 
love ;  she  would  appreciate  your  poetry ;  you 
would  marry  her  and  be  happy  all  your  life.' 

"  He  shook  his  head.  '  No,  no,  no/  he 
said.  'You  don't  understand  my  nature. 
Marriage  would  mean  the  cares  of  a  house 
-  food,  fuel,  the  mending  of  clothes,  a  fam 
ily  —  all  the  hard  material  conditions  of  life. 
No,  sir !  My  love  soars  far  above  all  that. 
If  it  were  possible  that  Laura  should  ever 
be  mine  I  could  not  love  her  as  I  do.  She 
is  apart  from  me ;  she  is  above  me.  I  wor 
ship  her,  and  for  her  I  pour  out  my  soul  in 
song.  Listen  to  this,'  and  he  read  me  some 
lines  of  an  unfinished  sonnet  to  Laura  in  the 
sunlight.  'She  was  just  coming  from  a 
shaded  street  into  an  open  place  when  I  saw 
her,  and  this  poem  came  into  my  heart.' 
199 


THE  VIZIER  OF  THE 

"  About  a  week  after  this  I  was  very  much 
surprised  to  see  Petrarch  walking  with  his 
Laura,  who  was  accompanied  by  her  husband. 
The  three  were  very  amicably  conversing.  I 
joined  the  party,  and  was  made  acquainted 
with  M.  de  Sade,  and  after  that,  from  time 
to  time,  I  met  them  together,  sometimes  tak 
ing  a  meal  with  them  in  the  evening. 

"  I  discovered  that  Laura's  husband  looked 
upon  Petrarch  very  much  as  any  ordinary 
husband  would  look  upon  an  artist  who 
wished  to  paint  portraits  of  his  wife. 

"  I  lived  for  more  than  a  year  in  Avignon 
with  these  good  people,  and  I  am  not 
ashamed  to  say  that  I  never  ceased  my  en 
deavors  to  persuade  Petrarch  to  give  up  his 
strange  and  abnormal  attentions  to  a  wo 
man  who  would  never  be  anything  to  him 
but  a  vision  in  the  distance,  and  who  would 
prevent  him  from  living  a  true  and  natural 
life  with  one  who  would  be  all  his  own.  But 
it  was  of  no  use ;  he  went  on  in  his  own  way, 
and  everybody  knows  the  results. 

"Now,  just  think  of  it,"  continued  Mr. 
Crowder.  "  Suppose  I  had  succeeded  in  my 
honest  efforts  to  do  good ;  think  of  what  the 
200 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

world  would  have  lost.  Suppose  I  had  in 
duced  Petrarch  not  to  come  back  to  Avignon 
after  his  travels;  suppose  he  had  not  settled 
down  at  Vaucluse,  and  had  not  spent  three 
long  years  writing  sonnets  to  Laura  while 
she  was  occupied  with  the  care  of  her  large 
family  of  children ;  suppose,  in  a  word,  that 
I  had  been  successful  in  my  good  work,  and 
that  Petrarch  had  shut  his  eyes  and  his  heart 
to  Laura ;  suppose  —  " 

"  I  don't  choose  to  suppose  anything  of 
the  kind,"  said  Mrs.  Crowder.  "  Thee  tried 
to  do  right,  but  I  am  glad  thee  did  not  de 
prive  the  world  of  any  of  Petrarch's  poetry. 
But  now  I  want  thee  to  tell  us  something 
about  ancient  Egypt,  and  those  wonderfully 
cultivated  people  who  built  pyramids  and 
carved  hieroglyphics.  Perhaps  thee  saw 
them  building  the  Temple  of  the  Sun  at 
Heliopolis." 

Mr.  Crowder  shook  his  head.  "  That  was 
before  my  time,"  said  he. 

This  was  like  an  electric  shock  to  both  of 
us.     If  we  had  been  more  conversant  with 
ancient  chronology  we   might  have  under 
stood,  but  we  were  not  so  conversant 
201 


THE  VIZIER  OF   THE 

"  Abraham  !  Isaac  !  Moses  !  "  ejaculated 
Mrs.  Crowder.  "  Thee  knew  them  all,  and 
yet  Egypt  was  civilized  before  thy  time ! 
Does  thee  mean  that  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes,"  said  Mr.  Crowder.  "  I  am  of 
the  time  of  Abraham,  and  when  he  was  born 
the  glories  of  Egypt  were  at  their  height." 

"  It  is  difficult  to  get  these  things  straight 
in  one's  mind,"  said  Mrs.  Crowder.  "  As  thee 
has  lived  so  long,  it  seems  a  pity  that  thee 
was  not  born  sooner." 

"  I  have  often  thought  that,"  said  her  hus 
band  ;  "  but  we  should  all  try  to  be  content 
with  what  we  have.  And  now  let  us  skip 
out  of  those  regions  of  the  dusky  past.  I 
feel  in  the  humor  of  telling  a  love-story,  and 
one  has  just  come  into  my  mind." 

"  Thee  is  so  fond  of  that  sort  of  thing," 
said  his  wife,  with  a  smile,  "that  we  will 
not  interfere  with  thee." 

"  In  the  summer  of  the  year  950,"  said 
Mr.  Crowder,  "  I  was  traveling,  and  had 
just  come  over  from  France  into  the  province 
of  Piedmont,  in  northern  Italy.  I  was  then 
in  fairly  easy  circumstances,  and  was  engaged 
in  making  some  botanical  researches  for  a 
202 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

little  book  which  I  had  planned  to  write  on 
a  medical  subject.  I  will  explain  to  you 
later  how  I  came  to  do  a  great  deal  of  that 
sort  of  thing. 

"  Late  upon  a  warm  afternoon  I  was  en 
tering  the  town  of  Ivrea,  and  passing  a  large 
stone  building,  I  stopped  to  examine  some 
leaves  on  a  bush  which  grew  by  the  road 
side.  While  I  was  doing  this,  and  compar 
ing  the  shape  and  size  of  the  leaves  with 
some  drawings  I  had  in  a  book  which  I  took 
from  my  pocket,  I  heard  a  voice  behind  me 
and  apparently  above  me.  Some  one  was 
speaking  to  me,  and  speaking  in  Latin.  I 
looked  around  and  up,  but  could  see  no  one ; 
but  above  me,  about  ten  or  twelve  feet  from 
the  ground,  there  was  a  long,  narrow  slit  of 
a  window  such  as  is  seen  in  prisons.  Again 
I  heard  the  voice,  and  it  said  to  me  distinctly 
in  Latin,  '  Are  you  free  to  go  where  you 
choose  *?  '  It  was  the  voice  of  a  woman. 

"  As  I  wished  to  understand  the  situation 
better  before  I  answered,  I  went  over  to  the 
other  side  of  the  road,  where  I  could  get  a 
better  view  of  the  window.  There  I  saw 
behind  this  narrow  opening  a  part  of  the 
203 


THE   VIZIER  OF   THE 

face  of  a  woman.  This  stone  edifice  was 
evidently  a  prison.  I  approached  the  win 
dow,  and  standing  under  it,  first  looking 
from  side  to  side  to  see  that  no  one  was 
coming  along  the  road,  I  said  in  Latin,  '  I 
am  free  to  go  where  I  choose.' 

"  Then  the  voice  above  said,  '  Wait ! '  but 
it  spoke  in  Italian  this  time.  You  may  be 
sure  I  waited,  and  in  a  few  minutes  a  little 
package  dropped  from  the  window  and  fell 
almost  at  my  feet.  I  stooped  and  picked 
it  up.  It  was  a  piece  of  paper,  in  which 
was  wrapped  a  bit  of  mortar  to  give  it 
weight. 

"  I  opened  the  paper  and  read,  written  in 
a  clear  and  scholarly  hand,  these  words :  4 1 
am  a  most  unfortunate  prisoner.  I  believe 
you  are  an  honest  and  true  man,  because  I 
saw  you  studying  plants  and  reading  from  a 
book  which  you  carry.  If  you  wish  to  do 
more  good  than  you  ever  did  before,  come 
to  this  prison  again  after  dark.' 

"  I  looked  up  and  said  quickly,  in  Italian, 
4 1  shall  be  here.'  I  was  about  to  speak 
again  and  ask  for  some  more  definite  direc 
tions,  but  I  heard  the  sound  of  voices  around 
204 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

a  turn  in  the  road,  and  I  thought  it  better  to 
continue  my  walk  into  the  town. 

"  That  night,  as  soon  as  it  was  really  dark, 
I  was  again  at  the  prison.  I  easily  found 
the  window,  for  I  had  noted  that  it  was  so 
many  paces  from  a  corner  of  the  building ; 
but  there  was  no  light  in  the  narrow  slit,  and 
although  I  waited  some  time,  I  heard  no 
voice.  I  did  not  dare  to  call,  for  the  pris 
oner  might  not  be  alone,  and  I  might  do 
great  mischief. 

"My  eyes  were  accustomed  to  the  dark 
ness,  and  it  was  starlight.  I  walked  along 
the  side  of  the  building,  examining  it  care 
fully,  and  I  soon  found  a  little  door  in  the 
wall.  As  I  stood  for  a  few  moments  before 
this  door,  it  suddenly  opened,  and  in  front 
of  me  stood  a  big  soldier.  He  wore  a  wide 
hat  and  a  little  sword,  and  evidently  was 
not  surprised  to  see  me.  I  thought  it  well, 
however,  to  speak,  and  I  said :  '  Could  you 
give  a  mouthful  of  supper  to  a  — ' 

"  He  did  not  allow  me  to  finish  my  sen 
tence,  but  putting  his  hand  upon  my  shoul 
der,  said  gruffly :  '  Come  in.  Don't  you 
waste  your  breath  talking  about  supper.'  I 
205 


THE  VIZIER  OF  THE 

entered,  and  the  door  was  closed  behind  me. 
I  followed  this  man  through  a  stone  passage 
way,  and  he  took  me  to  a  little  stone  room. 
4  Wait  here  ! '  he  said,  and  he  shut  me  in.  I 
was  in  pitch-darkness,  and  had  no  idea  what 
was  going  to  happen  next.  After  a  little 
time  I  saw  a  streak  of  light  coming  through 
a  keyhole ;  then  an  inner  door  opened,  and 
a  young  woman  with  a  lamp  came  into  the 
room." 

"  Now  does  the  love-story  begin  ?  "  asked 
his  wife. 

"Not  yet,"  said  Mr.  Crowder.  "The 
young  woman  looked  at  me,  and  I  looked 
at  her.  She  was  a  pretty  girl  with  black 
eyes.  I  did  not  express  my  opinion  of  her, 
but  she  was  not  so  reticent.  '  You  look 
like  a  good  old  man/  she  said.  '  I  think 
you  may  be  trusted.  Come  ! '  Her  speech 
was  provincial,  and  she  was  plainly  a  servant. 
I  followed  her.  '  Now  for  the  mistress,'  said 
I  to  myself." 

"  Thee  may  have  looked  like  an  old  man," 
remarked  Mrs.  Crowder,  "  but  thee  did  not 
think  like  one." 

Her  husband  laughed.  "  I  mounted  some 
206 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

stone  steps,  and  was  soon  shown  into  a  room 
where  stood  a  lady  waiting  for  me.  As  the 
light  of  the  lamp  carried  by  the  maid  fell 
upon  her  face,  I  thought  I  had  never  seen  a 
more  beautiful  woman.  Her  dress,  her  car 
riage,  and  her  speech  showed  her  to  be  a 
lady  of  rank.  She  was  very  young,  scarcely 
twenty,  I  thought. 

"  This  lady  immediately  began  to  ask  me 
questions.  She  had  perceived  that  I  was  a 
stranger,  and  she  wanted  to  know  where  I 
came  from,  what  was  my  business,  and  as 
much  as  I  could  tell  her  of  myself.  '  I  knew 
you  were  a  scholar,'  she  said,  'because  of 
your  book,  and  I  believe  in  scholars.'  Then 
briefly  she  told  me  her  story  and  what  she 
wanted  of  me. 

"  She  was  the  young  Queen  Adelheid,  the 
widow  of  King  Lothar,  who  had  recently 
died,  and  she  was  then  suffering  a  series  of 
harsh  persecutions  from  the  present  king, 
Berengar  II,  who  in  this  way  was  endeavor 
ing  to  force  her  to  marry  his  son  Adalbert. 
She  hated  this  young  man,  and  positively 
refused  to  have  anything  to  do  with  him. 

"  This  charming  and  royal  young  widow 
207 


THE  VIZIER  OF  THE 

was  bright,  intelligent,  and  had  a  mind  of 
her  own ;  it  was  easy  to  see  that.  She  had 
formed  a  scheme  for  her  deliverance,  and 
she  had  been  waiting  to  find  some  one  to 
help  her  carry  it  out.  Now,  she  thought  I 
was  the  man  she  had  been  looking  for.  I 
was  elderly,  apparently  respectable,  and  she 
had  to  trust  somebody. 

"This  was  her  scheme.  She  was  well 
aware  that  unless  some  powerful  friend  in 
terfered  in  her  behalf  she  would  be  obliged 
to  marry  Adalbert,  or  remain  in  prison  for 
the  rest  of  her  life,  which  would  probably  be 
unduly  shortened.  Therefore  she  had  made 
up  her  mind  to  appeal  to  the  court  of  the 
Emperor  Otto  I  of  Germany,  and  she  wanted 
me  to  carry  a  letter  to  him. 

"  I  stood  silent,  earnestly  considering  this 
proposition,  and  as  I  did  so  she  gazed  at  me 
as  if  her  whole  happiness  in  this  world  de 
pended  upon  my  decision.  I  was  not  long  in 
making  up  my  mind  on  the  subject.  I  told 
her  that  I  was  willing  to  help  her,  and  would 
undertake  to  carry  a  letter  to  the  emperor, 
and  I  did  not  doubt,  from  what  I  had  heard 
of  this  noble  prince,  that  he  would  come  to 
208 


TWO-HORNED   ALEXANDER 

her  deliverance.  But  I  furthermore  assured 
her  that  the  moment  it  became  known  that 
the  emperor  was  about  to  interfere  in  her 
behalf,  she  would  be  in  a  position  of  great 
danger,  and  would  probably  disappear  from 
human  sight  before  relief  could  reach  her. 
In  that  prison  she  was  utterly  helpless,  and 
to  appeal  for  help  would  be  to  bring  down 
vengeance  upon  herself.  The  first  thing  to 
do,  therefore,  was  to  escape  from  this  prison, 
and  get  to  some  place  where,  for  a  time  at 
least,  she  could  defend  herself  against  Beren- 
gar,  while  waiting  for  Otto  to  take  her  under 
his  protection. 

"  She  saw  the  force  of  my  remarks,  and  we 
discussed  the  matter  for  half  an  hour,  and 
when  I  left — being  warned  by  the  soldier 
on  guard,  who  was  in  love  with  the  queen's 
black-eyed  maid,  that  it  was  time  for  me  to 
depart  —  it  was  arranged  that  I  should  return 
the  next  night  and  confer  with  the  fair  Adel- 
heid. 

"  There  were  several  conferences,  and  the 

unfaithful  sentinel  grumbled  a  good  deal.    I 

cannot  speak  of  all  the  plans  and  projects 

which  we  discussed,  but  at  last  one  of  them 

209 


THE  VIZIER  OF  THE 

was  carried  out.  One  dark,  rainy  night 
Adelheid  changed  clothes  with  her  maid,  ac 
tually  deceived  the  guard  —  not  the  fellow 
who  had  admitted  me  —  with  a  story  that 
she  had  been  sent  in  great  haste  to  get  some 
medicine  for  her  royal  mistress,  and  joined 
me  outside  the  prison. 

"  There  we  mounted  horses  I  had  in  readi 
ness,  and  rode  away  from  Ivrea.  We  were 
bound  for  the  castle  of  Canossa,  a  strong 
hold  of  considerable  importance,  where  my 
royal  companion  believed  she  could  find  ref 
uge,  at  least  for  a  time.  I  cannot  tell  you 
of  all  the  adventures  we  had  upon  that  diffi 
cult  journey.  We  were  pursued ;  we  were 
almost  captured;  we  met  with  obstacles  of 
various  kinds,  which  sometimes  seemed  in 
surmountable  ;  but  at  last  we  saw  the  walls 
of  Canossa  rising  before  us,  and  we  were 
safe. 

"  Adelheid  was  very  grateful  for  what  I 
had  done,  and  as  she  had  now  learned  to  place 
full  reliance  upon  me,  she  insisted  that  I 
should  be  the  bearer  of  a  letter  from  her  to 
the  Emperor  Otto.  I  should  not  travel  alone, 
but  be  accompanied  by  a  sufficient  retinue 
210 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

of  soldiers  and  attendants,  and  should  go  as 
her  ambassador. 

"  The  journey  was  a  long  and  a  slow  one, 
but  I  was  rather  glad  of  it,  for  it  gave  me  an 
opportunity  to  ponder  over  the  most  ambi 
tious  scheme  I  have  ever  formed  in  the 
whole  course  of  my  life." 

"Greater  than  to  be  autocrat  of  all  the 
Russias  *?  "  exclaimed  Mrs.  Crowder. 

"  Yes,"  he  replied.  "  That  opportunity 
came  to  me  suddenly,  and  I  accepted  it;  I 
did  not  plan  it  out  and  work  for  it.  Besides, 
it  could  be  only  a  transitory  thing.  But 
what  now  occupied  me  was  a  grand  idea,  the 
good  effects  of  which,  if  it  should  be  carried 
out,  might  endure  for  centuries.  It  was  sim 
ply  this : 

"I  had  become  greatly  attached  to  the 
young  queen  widow  whose  cause  I  had 
espoused.  I  had  spent  more  than  a  month 
with  her  in  the  castle  at  Canossa,  and  there 
I  learned  to  know  her  well  and  to  love  her. 
She  was,  indeed,  a  most  admirable  woman 
and  charming  in  every  way.  She  appeared 
to  place  the  most  implicit  trust  in  me  ;  told 
me  of  all  her  affairs,  and  asked  my  opinion 
211 


THE  VIZIER   OF   THE 

about  almost  everything  she  proposed  to  do. 
In  a  word,  I  was  in  love  with  her  and  wanted 
to  marry  her." 

"  Thee  certainly  had  lofty  notions ;  but 
don't  think  I  object,"  said  Mrs.  Crowder. 
"  It  is  Chinese  and  Tartars  I  don't  like." 

"  It  might  seem  at  first  sight,"  he  con 
tinued,  "  that  I  was  aiming  above  me,  but  the 
more  I  reflected  the  more  firmly  I  believed 
that  it  would  be  very  good  for  the  lady,  as 
well  as  for  me.  In  the  first  place,  she  had 
no  reason  to  expect  a  matrimonial  union 
worthy  of  her.  Adalbert  she  had  every  rea 
son  to  despise,  and  there  was  no  one  else 
belonging  to  the  riotous  aristocratic  factions 
of  Italy  who  could  make  her  happy  or  give 
her  a  suitable  position.  In  all  her  native 
land  there  was  not  a  prince  to  whom  she 
would  not  have  to  stoop  in  order  to  marry 
him. 

"  But  to  me  she  need  not  stoop.  No  man 
on  earth  possessed  a  more  noble  lineage.  I 
was  of  the  house  of  Shem,  a  royal  priest  after 
the  order  of  Melchizedek,  and  King  of  Sa 
lem  !  No  line  of  imperial  ancestry  could 
claim  precedence  of  that." 
212 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

Mrs.  Crowder  looked  with  almost  reverent 
awe  into  the  face  of  her  husband.  "And 
that  is  the  blood,"  she  said,  "  which  flows  in 
the  veins  of  our  child  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  he ;  "  that  is  the  blood." 

After  a  slight  pause  Mr.  Crowder  con 
tinued  :  "  I  will  now  go  on  with  my  tale  of 
ambition.  A  grand  career  would  open  be 
fore  me.  I  would  lay  all  my  plans  and 
hopes  before  the  Emperor  Otto,  who  would 
naturally  be  inclined  to  assist  the  unfortunate 
widow ;  but  he  would  be  still  more  willing 
to  do  so  when  I  told  him  of  the  future  which 
might  await  her  if  my  plans  should  be  carried 
out.  As  he  was  then  engaged  in  working 
with  a  noble  ambition  for  the  benefit  of  his 
own  dominions,  he  would  doubtless  be  will 
ing  to  do  something  for  the  good  of  lands 
beyond  his  boundaries.  It  ought  not  to  be 
difficult  to  convince  him  that  there  could  be 
no  wiser,  no  nobler  way  of  championing  the 
cause  of  Adelheid  than  by  enabling  me  to 
perform  the  work  I  had  planned. 

"  All  that  would  be  necessary  for  him  to 
do  would  be  to  furnish  me  with  a  moderate 
military  force.  With  this  I  would  march  to 
213 


THE  VIZIER  OF  THE 

Canossa ;  there  I  would  espouse  Adelheid ; 
then  I  would  proceed  to  Ivrea,  would  de 
throne  the  wicked  Berengar,  would  proclaim 
Adelheid  queen  in  his  place,  with  myself  as 
king  consort;  then,  with  the  assistance  and 
backing  of  the  imperial  German,  I  would  no 
doubt  soon  be  able  to  maintain  my  royal  pre 
tensions.  Once  self-supporting,  and  relying 
upon  our  Italian  subjects  for  our  army  and 
finances,  I  would  boldly  reestablish  the  great 
kingdom  of  Lombardy,  to  which  Charle 
magne  had  put  an  end  nearly  two  hundred 
years  before.  Then  would  begin  a  grand 
system  of  reforms  and  national  progress. 

"  Pavia  should  be  my  capital,  but  the 
beneficent  influence  of  my  rule  should  move 
southward.  I  would  make  an  alliance  with 
the  Pope;  I  would  crush  and  destroy  the 
factions  which  were  shaking  the  foundations 
of  church  and  state;  I  would  still  further 
extend  my  power  —  I  would  become  the 
imperial  ruler  of  Italy,  with  Adelheid  as  my 
queen ! 

"  Over  and  over  again  I  worked  out  and 
arranged  this  grand  scheme,  and  when  I 
reached  the  court  of  the  Emperor  Otto  it 
214 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

was  all  as  plain  in  my  mind  as  if  it  had  been 
copied  on  parchment. 

"  I  was  very  well  received  by  the  emperor, 
and  he  read  with  great  interest  and  concern 
the  letter  I  had  brought  him.  He  gave  me 
several  private  audiences,  and  asked  me 
many  questions  about  the  fair  young  widow 
who  had  met  with  so  many  persecutions  and 
misfortunes.  This  interest  greatly  pleased 
me,  but  I  did  not  immediately  submit  to 
him  my  plan  for  the  relief  of  Adelheid  and 
the  great  good  of  the  Italian  nation.  I 
would  wait  a  little ;  I  must  make  him  better 
acquainted  with  myself.  But  the  imperial 
Otto  did  not  wait.  On  the  third  day  after 
my  arrival  I  was  called  into  his  cabinet  and 
informed  that  he  intended  to  set  out  himself 
at  the  head  of  an  army ;  that  he  should  re 
lieve  the  unfortunate  lady  from  her  perse 
cutions  and  establish  her  in  her  rights, 
whatever  they  might  prove  to  be.  His  en 
thusiastic  manner  in  speaking  of  his  inten 
tions  assured  me  that  I  need  not  trouble  my 
self  to  say  one  word  about  my  plans. 

"Now,— would  you  believe  it?  —  that 
intermeddling  monarch  took  out  of  my  hands 
215 


THE   VIZIER   OF   THE 

the  whole  grand,  ambitious  scheme  I  had  so 
carefully  devised.  He  went  to  Canossa;  he 
married  Adelheid ;  he  marched  upon  Beren- 
gar;  he  subjugated  him  and  made  him  his 
vassal;  he  formed  an  alliance  with  Pope 
John  XII ;  he  was  proclaimed  King  of  the 
Lombards ;  he  was  crowned  with  his  queen 
in  St.  Peter's;  he  eventually  acquired  the 
southern  portion  of  Italy.  All  this  was  ex 
actly  what  I  had  intended  to  do." 

Mrs.  Crowder  laughed.  "  In  one  way  thee 
was  served  quite  right,  for  thee  made  all  thy 
plans  without  ever  asking  the  beautiful  young 
ex-queen  whether  she  would  have  thee  or  not." 

In  the  tones  of  this  fair  lady's  voice  there 
were  evident  indications  of  mental  relief. 
"  And  what  did  thee  do  then 4? "  she  asked. 
"  I  hope  thee  got  some  reward  for  all  thy 
faithful  exertions." 

"  I  received  nothing  at  the  time,"  Mr. 
Crowder  replied ;  "  and  as  I  did  not  care  to 
accompany  the  emperor  into  Italy,  for  prob 
ably  I  would  be  recognized  as  the  man  who 
had  assisted  Adelheid  to  escape  from  the  pris 
on  at  Ivrea,  and  as  I  was  not  at  all  sure  that 
the  emperor  would  remember  that  I  needed 
216 


TWO-HORNED   ALEXANDER 

protection,  I  thought  it  well  to  protect  my 
self,  and  so  I  journeyed  back  into  France  as 
well  as  I  could. 

"  This  was  not  very  well ;  for  in  purchas 
ing  the  necessary  fine  clothes  which  I  deemed 
it  proper  to  wear  in  the  presence  of  the  royal 
lady  whose  interests  I  had  in  charge,  in  buy 
ing  horses,  and  in  many  incidental  expenses, 
I  had  spent  my  money.  I  was  too  proud  to 
ask  Otto  to  reimburse  me,  for  that  would 
have  been  nothing  but  charity  on  his  part; 
and  of  course  I  could  not  expect  the  fair 
Adelheid  to  think  of  my  possible  financial 
needs.  So,  away  I  went,  a  poor  wanderer  on 
foot,  and  the  imperial  Otto  rode  forward  to 
love,  honor,  and  success." 

"  A  dreadful  shame  !  "  exclaimed  Mrs. 
Crowder.  "  It  seems  as  if  thee  always  car 
ried  a  horn  about  with  thee  so  that  thee  might 
creep  out  of  the  little  end  of  it." 

44  But  my  adventures  with  Adelheid  did 
not  end  here,"  he  said.  "  About  fifty  years 
after  this  she  was  queen  regent  in  Italy, 
during  the  infancy  of  her  grandchild  Otto 
III.  Being  in  Rome,  and  very  poor,  I  de 
termined  to  go  to  her,  not  to  seek  for  charity, 
217 


THE   VIZIER   OF  THE 

but  to  recall  myself  to  her  notice,  and  to 
boldly  ask  to  be  reimbursed  for  my  expenses 
when  assisting  her  to  escape  from  Ivrea,  and 
in  afterward  going  as  her  ambassador  to  Otto 
I.  In  other  words,  I  wanted  to  present  my 
bill  for  enabling  her  to  take  her  seat  upon 
the  throne  of  the  4  Holy  Roman  Empire  of 
the  German  Nation.' 

"  As  a  proof  that  I  was  the  man  I  assumed 
to  be,  I  took  with  me  a  ring  of  no  great  yalue, 
but  set  with  her  royal  seal,  which  she  had 
given  me  when  she  sent  me  to  Otto. 

••  Well,  I  will  not  spend  much  time  on 
this  part  of  the  story.  By  means  of  the  ring 
I  was  accorded  an  interview  with  the  regent. 
She  was  then  an  old  woman  over  seventy 
years  of  age.  When  I  introduced  myself  to 
her  and  told  her  my  errand,  she  became  very 
angry.  '  I  remember  very  well,'  she  said, 
4  the  person  you  speak  of,  and  he  is  long  since 
dead.  He  was  an  old  man  when  I  took  him 
into  my  service.  You  may  be  his  son  or 
some  one  else  who  has  heard  how  he  was 
employed  by  me.  At  any  rate,  you  are  an 
impostor.  How  did  you  come  into  possession 
of  this  ring'?  The  man  to  whom  I  gave  it 
218 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

had  no  right  to  keep  it.  He  should  have 
returned  it  to  me  when  he  had  performed 
his  duties.' 

"  I  tried  to  convince  her  that  there  was  no 
reason  to  suppose  that  the  man  who  had  as 
sisted  her  could  not  be  living  at  this  day. 
He  need  only  be  about  one  hundred  years 
old,  and  that  age  was  not  uncommon.  I  af 
firmed  most  earnestly  that  the  ring  had  never 
been  out  of  my  possession,  and  that  I  should 
not  have  come  to  her  if  I  had  not  believed 
that  she  would  remember  my  services,  and 
be  at  least  willing  to  make  good  the  con 
siderable  sums  I  had  expended  in  her  behalf. 

"  Now  she  arose  in  royal  wrath.  '  How 
dare  you  speak  to  me  in  that  way ! '  she  said. 
'You  are  a  younger  man  at  this  moment 
than  that  old  stranger  you  represent  yourself 
to  be.'  Then  she  called  her  guards  and  had 
me  sent  to  prison  as  a  cheat  and  an  impos 
tor.  I  remained  in  prison  for  some  time, 
but  as  no  definite  charge  was  made  against 
me,  I  was  not  brought  to  trial,  and  after  a 
time  was  released  to  make  room  for  some 
body  else.  I  got  away  as  soon  as  I  could, 
and  thus  ended  my  most  ambitious  dream." 
13  219 


VII 

O  W,  my  dear,"  said  Mr.  Crowder, 
regarding  his  wife  with  a  tender 
kindness  which  I  had  frequently 
noticed  in  him,  "just  for  a  change, 
I  know  you  would  like  to  hear  of  a  career  of 
prosperity,  would  n't  you  ?  " 

"  Indeed,  I  would  !  "  said  Mrs.  Crowder. 
"  You  will  have  noticed,"  said  her  hus 
band,  "that  there  has  been  a  great  deal  of 
variety  in  my  vocations ;  in  fact,  I  have  not 
mentioned  a  quarter  of  the  different  trades 
and  callings  in  which  I  have  been  engaged. 
It  was  sometimes  desirable  and  often  abso 
lutely  necessary  for  me  to  change  my  method 
of  making  a  living,  but  during  one  epoch  of 
my  life  I  steadily  devoted  myself  to  a  single 
profession.  For  nearly  four  hundred  years  I 
was  engaged  almost  continuously  in  the  prac 
tice  of  medicine.  I  found  it  easier  for  me, 
220 


THE   VIZIER  OF  ALEXANDER 

as  a  doctor,  to  change  my  place  of  residence 
and  to  appear  in  a  new  country  with  as  much 
property  as  I  could  carry  about  with  me, 
than  if  I  had  done  so  in  any  other  way.  A 
prosperous  and  elderly  man  coming  as  a 
stranger  from  a  far  country  would,  under 
ordinary  circumstances,  be  regarded  with 
suspicion  unless  he  were  able  to  give  some 
account  of  his  previous  career.  But  a  doctor 
from  a  far  country  was  always  welcome ;  if 
he  could  cure  people  of  their  ailments  they 
did  not  ask  anything  about  the  former  cir 
cumstances  of  his  life.  It  was  perfectly 
natural  for  a  learned  man  to  travel." 

"  Did  thee  regularly  study  and  go  to  col 
lege  ?  "  asked  Mrs.  Crowder,  "  or  was  thee 
a  quack  ?  " 

"  Oh,  I  studied,"  said  her  husband,  smil 
ing,  "and  under  the  best  masters.  I  had 
always  a  fancy  for  that  sort  of  thing,  and  in 
the  days  of  the  patriarchs,  when  there  were 
no  regular  doctors,  I  was  often  called  upon, 
as  I  told  you." 

"  Oh,  yes,"  said  his  wife ;  "  thee  rubbed 
Joshua  with  gravel  and  pepper." 

"  And  cured  him,"  said  he.  "  You  ought 
221 


THE  VIZIER  OF   THE 

not  to  have  omitted  that.  But  it  was  not 
until  about  the  fifth  century  before  Christ 
that  I  thought  of  really  studying  medicine. 
I  was  in  the  island  of  Cos,  where  I  had  gone 
for  a  very  queer  reason.  The  great  painter 
Apelles  lived  there,  and  I  went  for  the  pur 
pose  of  studying  art  under  him.  I  was  tired 
of  most  of  the  things  I  had  been  doing,  and 
I  thought  it  would  be  a  good  idea  to  become 
a  painter.  Apelles  gave  me  no  encourage 
ment  when  I  applied  to  him ;  he  told  me  I 
was  entirely  too  old  to  become  a  pupil.  '  By 
the  time  you  would  really  know  how  to 
paint/  said  he,  'supposing  you  have  any 
talent  for  it,  you  ought  to  be  beginning  to 
arrange  your  affairs  to  get  ready  to  die.'  Of 
course  this  admonition  had  no  effect  upon  me, 
and  I  kept  on  with  my  drawing  lessons.  If 
I  could  not  become  a  painter  of  eminence,  I 
thought  that  at  least  I  might  be  able,  if 
I  understood  drawing,  to  become  a  better 
schoolmaster  —  if  I  should  take  up  that  pro 
fession  again. 

44  One  day  Apelles  said  to  me,  after  glan 
cing  at  the  drawing  on  which  I  was  engaged  : 
4  If  you  were  ten  years  younger  you  might 
222 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

do  something  in  the  field  of  art,  for  you 
would  make  an  excellent  model  for  the  pic 
ture  I  am  about  to  begin.  But  at  your 
present  age  you  would  not  be  able  to  sustain 
the  fatigue  of  remaining  in  a  constrained 
position  for  any  length  of  time.'  '  What  is 
the  subject? '  I  asked.  'A  centurion  in  battle/ 
said  he. 

"  The  next  day  I  appeared  before  Apelles 
with  my  hair  cropped  short  and  my  face 
without  a  vestige  of  a  beard.  '  Do  I  look 
young  enough  now  to  be  your  model  ? '  said 
I.  The  painter  looked  at  me  in  surprise. 
'Yes,'  said  he,  'you  look  young  enough; 
but  of  course  you  are  the  same  age  as  you 
were  yesterday.  However,  if  you  would 
like  to  try  the  model  business,  I  will  make 
some  sketches  of  you.' 

"  For  more  than  a  month,  nearly  every 
day,  I  stood  as  a  model  to  Apelles  for  his 
great  picture  of  a  centurion  whose  sword  had 
been  stricken  from  his  hand,  and  who,  in 
desperation,  was  preparing  to  defend  him 
self  against  his  enemy  with  the  arms  which 
nature  had  given  him." 

"  Is  that  picture  extant  ?  "  I  asked. 
223 


THE  VIZIER  OF  THE 

Mr.  Crowder  smiled.  "  None  of  Apelles's 
paintings  are  in  existence  now,"  he  an 
swered.  "  While  I  was  acting  as  model  to 
Apelles  —  and  I  may  remark  that  I  never 
grew  tired  of  standing  in  the  position  he 
desired  —  I  listened  with  great  satisfaction 
to  the  conversations  between  him  and  the 
friends  who  called  upon  him  while  he  was  at 
work.  The  chief  of  these  was  Hippocrates, 
the  celebrated  physician,  between  whom  and 
Apelles  a  strong  friendship  existed. 

"  Hippocrates  was  a  man  of  great  com 
mon  sense.  He  did  not  believe  that  diseases 
were  caused  by  spirits  and  demons  and  all 
that  sort  of  thing,  and  in  many  ways  he 
made  himself  very  interesting  to  me.  So,  in 
course  of  time,  after  having  visited  him  a 
good  deal,  I  made  up  my  mind  to  quit  the 
study  of  art  and  go  into  that  of  medicine. 

"  I  got  on  very  well,  and  after  a  time  I 
practised  with  him  in  many  cases,  and  he 
must  have  had  a  good  deal  of  confidence  in 
me,  for  when  the  King  of  Persia  sent  for  him 
to  come  to  his  court,  offering  him  all  sorts 
of  munificent  rewards,  Hippocrates  declined, 
but  he  suggested  to  me  that  I  should  go. 
224 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

" '  You  look  like  a  doctor/  said  he.  '  The 
king  would  have  confidence  in  you  simply 
on  account  of  your  presence ;  and,  besides, 
you  do  know  a  great  deal  about  medicine/ 
But  I  did  not  go  to  Persia,  and  shortly  after 
that  I  left  the  island  of  Cos  and  gave  up  the 
practice  of  medicine.  Later,  in  the  second 
century  before  Christ,  I  made  the  acquain 
tance  of  a  methodist  doctor  — " 

"A  what?"  Mrs.  Crowder  and  I  ex 
claimed  at  the  same  moment. 

He  laughed.  "  I  thought  that  would  sur 
prise  you,  but  it  is  true." 

"  Of  course  it  is  true,"  said  his  wife,  color 
ing  a  little.  "Does  thee  think  I  would 
doubt  anything  thee  told  me  ?  If  thee  had 
said  that  Abraham  had  a  Quaker  cook,  I 
would  have  believed  it." 

"  And  if  I  had  told  you  that,"  said  Mr. 
Crowder,  "  it  would  have  been  so.  But  to 
explain  about  this  methodist  doctor.  In 
those  days  the  physicians  were  divided  into 
three  schools:  empirics,  dogmatists,  and 
methodists.  This  man  I  speak  of —  Ascle- 
piades  —  was  the  leading  methodist  physi 
cian,  depending,  as  the  name  suggests,  upon 
225 


THE  VIZIER   OF  THE 

regular  methods  of  treatment  instead  of  ex 
periments  and  theories  adapted  to  the  par 
ticular  case  in  hand. 

"  He  also  was  a  man  of  great  good  sense, 
and  was  very  witty  besides.  He  made  a 
good  deal  of  fun  of  other  physicians,  and 
used  to  call  the  system  of  Hippocrates 
'meditation  on  death.'  I  studied  with  him 
for  some  time,  but  it  was  not  until  the  first 
century  of  the  present  era  that  I  really  began 
the  practice  of  my  profession.  Then  I  made 
the  acquaintance  of  the  great  Galen.  He 
was  a  man  who  was  not  only  a  physician, 
but  an  accomplished  surgeon,  and  this  could 
be  said  of  very  few  people  in  that  age  of  the 
world.  I  studied  anatomy  and  surgery  un 
der  him,  and  afterward  practised  with  him  as 
I  had  done  with  Hippocrates. 

"  The  study  of  anatomy  was  rather  diffi 
cult  in  those  days,  because  the  Roman  laws 
forbade  the  dissection  of  citizens,  and  the 
anatomists  had  to  depend  for  their  know 
ledge  of  the  human  frame  upon  their  exami 
nations  of  the  bodies  of  enemies  killed  in 
battle,  or  those  of  slaves,  in  whom  no  one  took 
an  interest ;  but  most  of  all  upon  the  bodies 
226 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

of  apes.  Great  numbers  of  these  beasts  were 
brought  from  Africa  solely  for  the  use  of 
the  Roman  surgeons,  and  in  that  connection 
I  remember  an  incident  which  was  rather 
curious. 

"  I  had  not  finished  my  studies  under 
Galen  when  that  great  master  one  day  in 
formed  me  that  a  trader  had  brought  him  an 
ape,  which  had  been  confined  in  a  small 
building  near  his  house.  He  asked  me  to 
go  out  and  kill  it  and  have  it  brought  into 
his  dissecting-room,  where  he  was  to  deliver 
a  lecture  to  some  students. 

"  I  started  for  the  building  referred  to. 
On  the  way  I  was  met  by  the  trader.  He 
was  a  vile-looking  man,  with  black,  matted 
hair  and  little  eyes,  who  did  not  look  much 
higher  in  intelligence  than  the  brutes  he 
dealt  in.  He  grinned  diabolically  as  he  led 
me  to  the  little  house  and  opened  the  door. 
I  looked  in.  There  was  no  ape  there,  but 
in  one  corner  sat  a  dark-brown  African  girl. 
I  looked  at  the  man  in  surprise.  '  The  ape 
I  was  to  bring  got  away  from  me,'  he  said, 
4  but  that  thing  will  do  a  great  deal  better, 
and  I  will  not  charge  any  more  for  it  than 
227 


THE  VIZIER  OF  THE 

for  the  ape.  Kill  it,  and  we  will  put  it  into 
a  bag  and  carry  it  to  the  doctor.  He  will  be 
glad  to  see  what  we  have  brought  him  in 
stead  of  an  ape.' 

"  I  angrily  ordered  the  man  to  leave  the 
place,  and  taking  the  girl  by  the  arm, — 
although  I  had  a  good  deal  of  trouble  in 
catching  her, —  I  led  her  to  Galen  and  told 
him  the  story." 

"  And  what  became  of  the  poor  thing  ?  " 
asked  Mrs.  Crowder. 

"  Galen  bought  her  from  the  man  at  the 
price  of  an  ape,  and  tried  to  have  her  edu 
cated  as  a  servant,  but  she  was  a  wild  crea 
ture  and  could  not  be  taught  much.  In 
some  way  or  other  the  people  in  charge  of 
the  amphitheater  got  possession  of  her,  and 
I  heard  that  she  was  to  figure  in  the  games 
at  an  approaching  great  occasion.  I  was 
shocked  and  grieved  to  hear  this,  for  I  had 
taken  an  interest  in  the  girl,  and  I  knew 
what  it  meant  for  her  to  take  part  in  the 
games  in  the  arena.  I  tried  to  buy  her,  but 
it  was  of  no  use :  she  was  wanted  for  a  par 
ticular  purpose.  On  the  day  she  was  to 
appear  in  the  arena  I  was  there." 
228 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

"  I  don't  see  how  thee  could  do  it,"  said 
Mrs.  Crowder,  her  face  quite  pale. 

"People's  sensibilities  were  different  in 
those  days,"  said  her  husband.  "  I  don't 
suppose  I  could  do  such  a  thing  now.  After 
a  time  she  was  brought  out  and  left  entirely 
alone  in  the  middle  of  the  great  space.  She 
was  nearly  frightened  to  death  by  the  people 
and  the  fear  of  some  unknown  terror.  Trem 
bling  from  head  to  foot,  she  looked  from 
side  to  side,  and  at  last  sank  crouching  on 
the  ground.  Everybody  was  quiet,  for  it 
was  not  known  what  was  to  happen  next. 
Then  a  grating  sound  was  heard,  with  the 
clank  of  an  iron  door,  and  a  large  brown 
bear  appeared  in  the  arena.  The  crouching 
African  fixed  her  eyes  upon  him,  but  did 
not  move. 

"  The  idea  of  a  combat  between  this  ten 
der  girl  and  a  savage  bear  could  not  be  enter 
tained.  What  was  about  to  occur  seemed 
simply  a  piece  of  brutal  carnage,  with  nothing 
to  make  it  interesting.  A  great  many  peo 
ple  expressed  their  dissatisfaction.  The  hard 
hearted  populace,  even  if  they  did  not  care 
about  fair  play  in  their  games,  did  desire 
229 


THE  VIZIER   OF   THE 

some  element  of  chance  which  would  give 
flavor  to  the  cruelty.  But  here  was  nothing 
of  the  sort.  It  would  have  been  as  well  to 
feed  the  beast  with  a  sheep. 

"  The  bear,  however,  seemed  to  look  upon 
the  performance  as  one  which  would  prove 
very  satisfactory.  He  was  hungry,  not  hav 
ing  had  anything  to  eat  for  several  days,  and 
here  was  an  appetizing  young  person  waiting 
for  him  to  devour  her. 

"  He  had  fixed  his  eyes  upon  her  the  mo 
ment  he  appeared,  and  had  paid  no  attention 
whatever  to  the  crowds  by  which  he  was 
surrounded.  He  gave  a  slight  growl,  the 
hair  on  his  neck  stood  up,  and  he  made  a 
quick  movement  toward  the  girl.  But  she 
did  not  wait  for  him.  Springing  to  her  feet, 
she  fled,  the  bear  after  her. 

"  Now  followed  one  of  the  most  exciting 
chases  ever  known  in  the  history  of  the 
Roman  amphitheater.  That  frightened  girl, 
as  swift  as  a  deer,  ran  around  and  around  the 
vast  space,  followed  closely  by  her  savage 
pursuer.  But  although  he  was  active  and 
powerful  and  unusually  swift  for  a  bear,  he 
could  not  catch  her. 

230 


, 


"'THE    CROUCHING   AFRICAN    FIXED    HER    EYES    UPON    HIM.'" 


TWO-HORNED   ALEXANDER 

"  Around  and  around  she  went,  and  around 
went  the  red-eyed  beast  behind  her;  but  he 
could  not  gain  upon  her,  and  she  gave  no 
sign  that  her  strength  was  giving  out. 

"Now  the  audience  began  to  perceive 
that  a  contest  was  really  going  on :  it  was  a 
contest  of  speed  and  endurance,  and  the 
longer  the  girl  ran  the  more  inclined  the 
people  were  to  take  her  part.  At  last  there 
was  a  great  shout  that  she  should  be  allowed 
to  escape.  A  little  door  was  opened  in  the 
side  of  the  amphitheater;  she  shot  through 
it,  and  it  was  closed  almost  in  the  face  of  the 
panting  and  furious  bear." 

44  What  became  of  the  poor  girl  *?  "  ex 
claimed  Mrs.  Crowder. 

44  A  sculptor  bought  her,"  said  Mr.  Crow 
der.  44  He  wanted  to  use  her  as  a  model  for 
a  statue  of  the  swift  Diana ;  but  this  never 
came  to  anything.  The  girl  could  not  be 
made  to  stand  still  for  a  moment.  She  was 
in  a  chronic  condition  of  being  frightened  to 
death.  After  that  I  heard  of  her  no  more ; 
it  was  easy  for  people  to  disappear  in  Rome. 
But  this  incident  in  the  arena  was  remem 
bered  and  talked  about  for  many  years  after- 
233 


THE  VIZIER  OF  THE 

ward.  The  fact  that  a  girl  was  possessed  of 
such  extraordinary  swiftness  that  she  would 
have  been  able  to  escape  from  a  wild 
beast,  by  means  of  her  speed  alone,  had 
she  been  in  an  open  plain,  was  considered 
one  of  the  most  interesting  natural  won 
ders  which  had  been  brought  to  the  notice 
of  the  Roman  people  by  the  sports  in  the 
arena." 

"  Fortunately,"  said  Mrs.  Crowder,  "  thee 
did  not—" 

"  No,"  said  her  husband,  "  I  did  not.  I 
required  more  than  speed  in  a  case  like  that. 
And  now  I  think,"  said  he,  rising, "  we  must 
call  this  session  concluded." 

The  next  day  I  was  obliged  to  bid  fare 
well  to  the  Crowders,  and  my  business  ar 
rangements  made  it  improbable  that  I  should 
see  them  again  for  a  long  time  —  I  could  not 
say  how  long.  As  I  bade  Mr.  Crowder  fare 
well  and  stood  holding  his  hand  in  mine, 
he  smiled,  and  said  :  "  That  's  right.  Look 
hard  at  me;  study  every  line  in  my  face, 
and  then  when  you  see  me  again  you  will  be 
better  able — " 

"  Not  a  bit,"  said  Mrs.  Crowder.  "  He  is 
234 


TWO-HORNED  ALEXANDER 

just  as  able  to  judge  now  as  he  will  be  if 
he  stays  away  for  twenty  years." 

I  believed  her,  as  I  warmly  shook  her 
hand,  and  I  believe  that  I  shall  always  con 
tinue  to  believe  her. 


235 


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